Chopper goes down, avoids crowd at fair GELSDORF, Germany, March 26 (UPI) -- A helicopter crashed in Germany, seriously injuring the pilot, who had maneuvered the aircraft away from a large crowd at a village fair, officials said. Five passengers were able to climb out of the wreckage. The chopper went down near the village of Gelsdorf Sunday, The Local reported. Witnesses reported seeing flames coming out of the engine as the helicopter took off. The pilot, who had already taken fairgoers on several flights during the day, managed to steer the aircraft away from the main fairgrounds, where hundreds of people were gathered, officials said. The helicopter hit a fence and went down an embankment. "If he'd made it 20 meters [60 feet] further to the field on the other side, everything would've been fine," an employee of the company that owned the helicopter said. A fair worker put out the flames while medics treated the passengers at the crash site. The extent of their injuries was not reported. A rescue helicopter flew the pilot to a hospital in Cologne, the report said.