One dead, 2 officers injured after airplane and Pennsylvania State Police helicopter collide mid-air
Two troopers were injured, and one person has died after a small aircraft collided with a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter in Pennsylvania on Wednesday afternoon.
A Cessna 150 airplane and a Bell 407 helicopter collided in midair near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, around 6:50 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Aug. 19, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Located in South Central Pennsylvania, Carlisle is around 25 miles west of the state’s capital of Harrisburg and around 36 miles from Hershey, Pennsylvania.
During a press conference held by Pennsylvania Police Acting Commissioner Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens and Governor Josh Shapiro, officials said a Cessna 150 airplane and a Bell 407 helicopter collided in midair near Carlisle around 7 p.m.
Bivens said a police helicopter was hovering over a grassy area conducting routine training when it was hit by the small Cessna aircraft.
“The Cessna plane, for an unknown reason, veered hard to the right at the last moment. It struck the helicopter from the rear,” Bivens said. “The pilots (of the helicopter) would not have been able to even see that airplane approaching them.”
Bivens said it was a “very violent crash.”
Two troopers, who are with the PA State Police Aviation Unit and were inside the helicopter, were injured and taken to the hospital. Shapiro said the troopers were injured but “are going to be OK and survive their injuries.”
The plane pilot did not survive. That person’s identity had not been released as of late Wednesday night.
The FAA was on scene Wednesday night, and officials said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was en route. The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation and provide all updates.
Shapiro said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had been in touch with him regarding the crash, and also said he had spent time with the families of the two troopers on Wednesday night.
There has been increased attention to airspace shared between helicopters and planes since last year’s midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport killed 67 people. In that crash, a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional jet as it was landing.
Witnesses recount aircraft crash
One witness said she saw pieces of the plane and helicopter scattered across the ground and someone being taken out on a stretcher and transported by Life Lion, sister station WGAL reports.
“I’m here six days a week, and we’re so used to helicopters and life flights and everything flying in. So, this was like nothing, nothing out of the ordinary until we heard the crash. And a lot of the kids unfortunately witnessed it. And it’s pretty sad,” she said.
Witnesses also reported hearing a loud bang at the time of the crash.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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CNN, the Associated Press, and sister stations WGAL and WTAE contributed to this report
