NEWPORT BEACH – As the helicopter hovered 500 feet above the chilly Newport coast, the 30-minute tour seemed to the pilot to be going as planned, except that only one passenger was aboard for the tour that had been booked for two.

The man seemed to be enjoying himself, thought pilot Corbin Street, 25, as he sat next to the passenger.

That was until Gregory McFadden, 61, of West Covina, opened the helicopter’s door, according to the pilot’s father, former longtime radio reporter Chuck Street.

“The guy abruptly unbuckled the seat belts and opened the door,” said Chuck Street.

Corbin Street grabbed McFadden’s shoulders and shirt, the elder Street said. During the short struggle, he said, the pilot hit the controls accidentally, causing the helicopter to pitch upward abruptly. McFadden’s shirt ripped. His headset was left dangling out of the door, the elder Street said.

McFadden plummeted to the ocean near the Balboa Pier shortly before 1 p.m. Corbin Street told his father that he radioed John Wayne Airport, declaring an emergency.

McFadden was pulled to shore by Newport Beach lifeguards and was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, where he was pronounced dead at 1:38 p.m., according to the coroner’s office.

Chuck Street said a suicide note was found, which Newport Beach police would not confirm Wednesday afternoon. But Brad McFadden, Gregory’s brother and former mayor of West Covina, said Gregory might have jumped because of health problems.

Gregory McFadden called Anaheim Helicopters, owned by Chuck Street, early Tuesday morning and booked a 30-minute Orange County tour for two. The tour begins at Fullerton Airport, travels toward Irvine Lake and then south to Pelican Hill in Newport Beach before heading north up the shoreline, Chuck Street said. The tour costs $140 per person, according to the company’s website.

Street said it wasn’t clear to his son Tuesday that McFadden wanted to harm himself, but it may have been more apparent to another helicopter tour company he had contacted earlier.

Ric Webb, the owner of OC Helicopters, said McFadden booked a tour Sunday for Monday at noon. McFadden arrived for his flight several hours early in shorts, flip-flops and a ripped plastic grocery bag, Web said.

“Something was just off about him – I thought it was chemical,” Webb said. “The look in his eyes was empty.”

Webb said he talked with McFadden for several hours and that McFadden kept pushing him to fly.

“He said. ‘If we don’t (fly) today, I’ll never be able to come back here again,’” Webb said.

“I’ve flown thousands and thousands and thousands of people,” Webb said. “I’ve never told anyone straight to their face ‘Hey, you’re not flying.’”

Webb also thought it was unusual that McFadden arrived for his tour alone. Webb said McFadden asked him to fly at 8,000 feet because his friend from New York would not come on the flight if they could not see the whole city.

Webb said the request make him think that something was “definitely off” about McFadden. He said he believes McFadden learned not to ask to fly at a higher elevation before contacting Street.

Webb said he called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and deputies escorted McFadden out of his company’s business area at John Wayne Airport on Monday afternoon, but that McFadden continued to call him inquiring about flights.

“He didn’t understand why we weren’t going to fly,” Web said. “I finally just had to tell him it was a mechanical issue.”

The next day, after finally obtaining a flight through Anaheim Helicopters, McFadden frequently inquired about the elevation and said he wanted to fly higher because he could see more clearly, Chuck Street said. Corbin Street took him as high as about 1,000 feet before McFadden asked to slow the helicopter down near the Wedge, Chuck Street said

That’s apparently when McFadden made his move.

Brad McFadden, an attorney, told the Associated Press that his brother suffered from an esophageal disorder for 15 years. It could give him a bad case of acid reflux and cause him to choke when he went to bed.

“It was a very serious problem with him, and it may have gotten to a point where it was unbearable,” Brad McFadden said.

Gregory McFadden was one of four brothers and graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in philosophy, his brother said.

Once out of college, Gregory McFadden wrote movie scripts, but none was sold. He has been unemployed for the past decade, collecting Social Security benefits. He was single and had no kids.

Brad McFadden said he last saw his brother two years ago when Gregory McFadden moved out of Brad’s house.

One of the other McFadden brothers had spoken to Gregory a couple of months ago, and he talked about his health condition, Brad McFadden said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3764 or aduranty@ocregister.com