A pilot died after a violent collision with a police helicopter on Wednesday evening, authorities confirmed.
The Pennsylvania State Police helicopter carried two people on board during the incident, they have both survived.
Collision details
The collision involving the Bell 407 helicopter and the Cessna 150 occurred approximately 110 miles (170 kilometres) northwest of Philadelphia at 7.50pm, the Federal Aviation Administration stated.
The plane was coming down on the runway and veered into the helicopter that near the ground, Pennsylvania State Police Colonel George Bivens, the state’s acting police commissioner, said during a news conference.
“When I say it was a very violent crash, that plane was cut into a lot of pieces,” he said, explaining that part of the investigation will be making sure the pilot was the only person on board.
Scene and response
Footage and photographs circulated on social media reveal the helicopter lying on its side alongside aircraft wreckage scattered across a field. A row of emergency vehicles remains stationed at the collision site.
Prior to the crash at approximately 6.30pm, a helicopter crew stationed at Harrisburg was undertaking training exercises at Carlisle Regional Airport, Bivens confirmed.
"As that Cessna came down along that runway for an unknown reason, it veered hard to the right. At the last moment, it struck the helicopter from the rear," Bivens told Fox News.
Injuries and investigation
He continued: "The corporal was in a position to push out a window and assist the trooper, who he believed had some more serious injuries and had a lot of bleeding, was able to assist him out through that window and got both of them out of, out of the helicopter."
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were conducting an investigation.
