Photog, Hermosa Beach man die in copter crash
Christopher Reed. Photo from Facebook
and Ryan McDonald
Photographer Michael Justice, a long time contributor to Easy Reader, and helicopter pilot Christopher Reed, of Hermosa Beach, died last Wednesday after their helicopter crashed in Los Angeles Harbor. Los Angeles Port Police divers recovered their bodies Thursday morning in the water near the Los Angeles Lighthouse, just down the hill from Justice’s San Pedro home. Justice was 61. Reed would have been 42 on Thursday.
The U.S. Coast Guard received word of the crash about 5 p.m. Jan. 4, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Andrea Anderson. Captain Charlene L. Downey, the commanding officer for U.S. Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, also serves as the Captain of the Port of Los Angeles, and closed the port to ship traffic that afternoon and into the next morning while first responders searched for the wreckage.
Coast Guard helicopters and cutters scanned the surface while officers with the Port of Los Angeles Police searched beneath the surface, discovering the wreckage about 11 a.m., Anderson said. Port police first retrieved the bodies of Reed and Justice and, after pulling the helicopter from the water, turned the crash investigation over to the National Transportation Safety Board, said Phillip Sanfield, director of media relations for the Port of Los Angeles.
The NTSB did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but a spokesman told the Daily Breeze that a preliminary report on the crash may be available this week, with a full report likely a year away.
Justice and Reed had taken off from Torrance Airport at 4:30 p.m. that Wednesday, on an assignment from the Port of Los Angeles to photograph arriving cruise ships. Justice been hired to take the shots because of the unusual circumstance of having three cruise ships in port at one time, Sanfield said
Justice worked as a freelance contract photographer for the port, but had worked for the port many times in the past, and was “certainly part of the Harbor Department family,” Sanfield said.
“He produced far and away the most stunning, iconic images of port we’ve ever had,” Sanfield said of Justice. “Those images will live on in perpetuity with the work he has done.”
Michael Justice. Photo from Facebook
Justice had hired a touring helicopter from JJ Helicopters in Torrance, where Reed worked part time as a pilot. Toshio Shinohara, owner of JJ Helicopters, said Reed had been with the company for about a year, mostly doing tours and photography gigs like the one with Justice.
Reed was an excellent pilot who obtained certification beyond what was required for private pilots, Shinohara said. He had a full time job with Honeywell, and flew purely out of enjoyment.
“He didn’t need the money, but he loved to fly,” Shinohara said.
Reed was a candidate for Hermosa Beach City Council in the competitive 2009 election. According to his candidate statement filed with the City Clerk’s office, Reed would planned to use his education and experience — he had earned an MBA and worked as a CFO — to address financial challenges.
On Monday afternoon during a reporter’s visit to an East Hermosa home, a man answered the door and confirmed that Reed had lived there, but said that his loved ones were not speaking to the media at this time.
See here for more on Michael Justice.