Three dead as helicopter crashes in hotel pool

Three people were killed today when a helicopter crashed into the swimming pool at a five-star hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The pilot apparently lost control in high winds as he tried to touch down on the helipad on the roof of the Hotel Sahid Jaya. He died along with the two passengers on board.

The aircraft clipped the roof of the building before dropping into the third-floor swimming pool, which was empty at the time, witnesses said. The tail of the craft destroyed a changing hut next to the pool.

Rescue workers standing knee-deep in the water pulled the corpses from the wreckage. The two passengers were a local bank executive and his secretary.

“I saw that the helicopter wanted to land, but it was way too windy and then it came crashing down,” said one guest at the Sahid Jaya.