Pilot killed, 2 troopers injured after small plane collides in midair with Pennsylvania State Police helicopter
The pilot of a small airplane was killed and two Pennsylvania State Police troopers were injured after the plane collided in midair with a state police helicopter near the Carlisle airport in Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley on Wednesday evening, officials said.
The Cessna 150 airplane crashed into the Bell 407 helicopter, which was conducting a training exercise, shortly before 7 p.m., Pennsylvania State Police Acting Commissioner Col. George Bivens told reporters at a press briefing on Wednesday.
The Cumberland County Coroner's Office on Thursday identified the pilot of the Cessna as Dr. Paul Sokoloski, 57, of Hershey, Pennsylvania. He was the sole occupant of the plane, state police said. Penn State Health said Sokoloski was a "valued member of our emergency medicine team."
The pilot was a certified flight instructor, National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge Aaron McCarter told reporters during a briefing on Thursday.
A trooper and a colonel, who were inside the helicopter, were injured in the crash but are expected to recover, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told reporters. He identified them as Cpl. Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills.
"Tonight could have been much worse," Shapiro said during a news conference at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center on Wednesday.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
McCarter said the helicopter had done what's known as a "hover taxi," several feet off the ground, and had started to go off to the side of the runway when the collision occurred.
"When he comes off the runway, that's when the Cessna came in, straight level, suddenly increased its pitch, severe nose up," McCarter said. The plane turned and leveled off, then "flew into the back of the helicopter," he continued.
"Right now we don't know the details about why the pilot was flying in that pattern, altitude or in that manner. But we are going to find out," McCarter said.
The crash was "very violent," Bivens said. The Cessna crashed a short distance away and broke into multiple pieces, and the helicopter lost its blades before crashing into the ground and rolling onto its side, he said.
Both troopers were initially trapped inside the helicopter wreckage, but the corporal was able to push out a window and help the trooper escape, Bivens said. They suffered minor injuries and were in stable condition following the crash, officials said.
CCTV footage verified by ABC News shows the collision. McCarter addressed the " dramatic" online videos showing the crash, saying, "So we see the outcome, but we want to understand why it happened."
The Carlisle airport is uncontrolled, meaning there is no air traffic control tower or controllers on site. Planes and helicopters coordinate their movements on a shared frequency that everyone can hear.
McCarter said there is "strong evidence" that the Cessna pilot was made aware of the helicopter hovering in the area.
"They were in communication with each other," he said.
McCarter said the NTSB's investigation into the "catastrophic" crash will look at "the man, the machine, the environment." He said witnesses have reported that the Cessna pilot had been conducting maintenance on his aircraft a day prior to the crash at the Carlisle airport, and that investigators will examine the maintenance records to better understand what work was being done.
"I'm not saying the maintenance had anything to do with it. That was just one of the factors," McCarter said.
The pilot had flown south for several hours to conduct some type of training on Wednesday before returning to Carlisle, he said.
