Tonight friends of the Flight Instructor who died in a Helicopter Crash on monday are speaking out. How they say he lived life to the fullest. Lanes on a busy east bay freeway finally back open tonight after a gaping pothole snarls traffic for hours. A memorial is going for a teenager shot and killed outside of and Alameda County taco bell. The latest on the suspects whereabouts. Good evening. Friends of the Flight Instructor killed earlier this week are opening up a melt and they say lived life to the fullest. We are in san jose. Reporter , every week, this is where Wayne Prodger would meet his friends to go on a motorcycle ride. Sometimes he would talk about flying, sometimes about life. Many times he would be right next to his best friend, his wife. They were high school sweethearts. Reporter she only knew him a few years, but that is all the time they needed to know that they love each other. I can imagine when you if you have been with someone that long. Reporter wayne and his wif
Helicopter crash about 2 30 monday afternoon brought he would fire and Police Vehicles rushing to the hayward airport. It was a helicopter, a robinson r44 four seat helicopter that crashed at the airport. The were two people on board. It was in instructional flight. A flight structure and his student. Reporter the airport manager says the student walked away from the wreckage and was rushed by ambulance to eden medical center. The instructor did not survive. The Alameda County coroner identified the instructor as Wayne Prodger , a 62yearold man from sunnyvale seen here from photos from his facebook page. Friends say he was well known from the airport and described him as a loving caring husband and father of three who love to because we see each other every day. Reporter he said youd seen him just before the crash. Wayne prodger was the owner chief quite instructor of vertical cfi helicopters flight school. His office was just down the hall from Pacific Helicopters which have long term
We are tracking your main travel times this morning. You are in the yellow coming through the altamonte pass. Elsewhere, you are in the green as far as main travel times are concerned. About a halfhour ride to the altamonte pass. Quarter of an hour on east shore freeway. 35 minutes easy out of the south bay. There is a fog advisory in effect for the golden gate brimming and look at this livepicture, you can see why because you cant see a lot. So take your time going over it. The san mateo bridge in the westbound direction not too many brake lights and not too much company. Bay bridge metering lights not on. We are seeing a stackup in the cash lanes, however. Everything in the east shore freeway and background of the picture is smooth sailing. Looking live at the ripmond san rafael brimming, flashing lights is the result of emergency construction in the westbound direction of 580. Of course, this is the final phase of that. We are getting close. The end is in sight for the Richmond San
Plenty of sun. Emily. We are looking at fog advisories in effect. First lets start with your main travel times this morning. Everything is in the green with the exception of the altamonte pass thats from the yellow to the red. Take a look at that. Your drive time creeping into the red at 39 minutes. Elsewhere, thats great news. East shore freeway highway 4, 101 no problem. Smooth sailing. Looking live to the Richmond San Rafael bridge, there are delays as you approach the toll plaza in the westbound direction. There are no lane closures in effect right now. Though we are finally in the last stages of the emergency construck. Hopefully thats clearing up here in the next month or so as far as construction is concerned. The san mateo bridge looks busier. Brake lights in the westbound dreck add volume slowing down. In the eastbound direction, not a problem at all. You are smooth sailing towards the east bay. Now, bay bridge, metering lights are on backed up towards the foot of the maze. Li
Yesterday afternoon and to answer your question i did speak briefly with an investigator from the faa who told me they did conduct interviews yesterday but when i asked if they knew the cause of the crash, he said no theyre still investigating. The man from the ntsb told me this was his first time at the crash site and might be able to update us later in afternoon if they learn anything. The aircraft was a fourseater robinson r44, the Gold Standard when it comes to helicopters of this size. It went down around 2 30 yesterday and landed on its side in the grass just off the runway. Two men on board, a Flight Instructor and he was Wayne Prodger of sunnyvale and he died and his student was critically injured and able to walk over to First Responders who put him on a gurney and transported him to the hospital. The airport tells us this was an instruct after flight. Practicing how to hover. Wayne prodger the Flight Instructor was wellknown as an avid motorcycle rider very active and when ou