One killed when small plane, state police helicopter collide in Pennsylvania, officials say
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Midair Collision at Carlisle Airport Claims One Life, Injures Two State Police Pilots
Wertynews.com – A Wednesday-evening crash at Carlisle Airport in Cumberland County, central Pennsylvania, left one person dead and two Pennsylvania State Police troopers wounded when a Cessna 150 and a Bell 407 helicopter collided, according to authorities. The Federal Aviation Administration identified both aircraft involved in the incident.
What Happened on the Ground
Acting Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Lt. Col. George Bivens detailed the sequence of events during a Wednesday-night news conference. The Bell 407, home-based in Harrisburg, had been conducting routine training exercises at the airport when the accident unfolded just before 7 p.m. ET. At the time of impact, the helicopter was hovering a few feet above a grassy strip next to one of the runways.
Bivens explained that the Cessna, which he believed carried only its pilot, came in from behind and aligned itself with a nearby runway.
“As that Cessna came down along that runway, for an unknown reason, it veered hard to the right at the last moment,” Bivens said. “It struck the helicopter from the rear. The pilots would not have been able to even see that airplane approaching them.”
In a subsequent statement, Pennsylvania State Police characterized the event as occurring while the helicopter was “on the ground,” while the National Transportation Safety Board classified the incident as “a midair collision.”
Aftermath and Injuries
Bivens characterized the crash as “violent,” noting that the helicopter “rolled inverted and crashed into the ground on its side and partially onto its roof.” The Cessna pilot was pronounced dead at the scene; the individual’s name had not been released immediately.
Both helicopter pilots — members of the state police’s elite aviation unit — were initially trapped inside the wreckage. According to Bivens, one of them managed to push out a window and extract both crew members. They were transported to Penn State Hershey Medical Center, where Dr. Ashley Ludwig, the hospital’s trauma director, confirmed at the briefing that both sustained only minor injuries and remained in stable condition. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, speaking at the same briefing, said the two were expected to survive.
Investigation and Response
FAA personnel were present at the crash site, and NTSB investigators were en route overnight, Bivens noted. The FAA confirmed that the NTSB would lead the probe, with the agency providing support.
“There is some video and photographs that are available that will be used to reconstruct what occurred,” Bivens said.
The NTSB added that once documentation of the wreckage was complete, it would “be moved to a secure facility for further examination.”
Gov. Shapiro closed the briefing with a reflection on how narrowly disaster was avoided.
“Tonight could have been much worse, tonight could have been much more tragic for our state police family, thank God that it wasn’t,” Shapiro said.
Carlisle sits roughly 120 miles west of Philadelphia.
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