A Pennsylvania State Police helicopter pilot is dead and two state troopers are hospitalized after a midair collision near Carlisle Airport.
The crash occurred Wednesday evening around 7:50 p.m. Local time at Carlisle Regional Airport in Cumberland County, involving a Cessna 150 two-seat airplane and a Bell 407 helicopter bearing the state police emblem, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens, Acting Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, confirmed at a late-night press conference that the Cessna pilot was killed and is believed to have been the sole occupant of the aircraft.
The two injured troopers were identified as Corporal Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills, both members of the Pennsylvania State Police elite aviation unit. Governor Josh Shapiro spoke outside Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center where the troopers are being treated, stating that both men are expected to recover. Dr. Ashley Ludwig, trauma director at the hospital, said both pilots sustained minor injuries and were stable. One trooper was expected to be released Wednesday night while the other would be admitted for further treatment.
The helicopter crew had been conducting routine training exercises, hovering several feet above a grassy area adjacent to a runway shortly before 7 p.m., Bivens said. The Cessna approached from behind and lined up with the runway when, for an unknown reason, it veered hard to the right at the last moment.
“The pilots would not have been able to even see that airplane approaching them,” Bivens said.
The airplane struck the helicopter’s rear tail rotor and entered its main rotor, Bivens continued, describing the result as “a very violent crash.” The Cessna was “cut into a lot of pieces” and crashed a short distance away in many fragments. The helicopter rolled inverted and crashed on its side, partially onto its roof.
Both chopper pilots were initially trapped in the wreckage. Corman managed to push out a window and then assisted Mills, who is believed to have sustained more severe injuries, out of the aircraft. Neighbors Patrick Brown and Lloyd Slusser told Penn Live they leaped over a fence and ran into the field to help, witnessing two troopers in the helicopter and one person in the plane.
“Tonight could have been much worse,” Shapiro said. “Tonight could have been much more tragic for our state police family, thank God that it wasn’t.”
The governor added that he and his wife Lori were praying for those affected. “Lori and I are praying hard and we ask all of our fellow Pennsylvanians to join us,” Shapiro wrote on social media earlier in the evening.
The identity of the deceased Cessna pilot has not been released, pending notification of next of kin. Bivens noted that investigators will work to confirm the pilot was the only person aboard the two-seat trainer aircraft.
Photos from the scene showed the helicopter toppled on its side with crash debris littering the grass alongside the runway. The airspace around Carlisle Airport was closed following the collision, according to FAA notices. Visibility was clear at the time of the incident.
The FAA arrived at the crash site late Wednesday evening, and the National Transportation Safety Board was expected to arrive overnight. Both agencies will lead the active and ongoing investigation with assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police. Bivens said there is video and photographs available that will be used to reconstruct what occurred, and the NTSB noted that wreckage would be moved to a secure facility for further examination after documentation.
In the viral moment that preceded this developing story, the midair collision drew immediate attention from local residents and emergency responders who witnessed the violent crash and rushed to assist the trapped troopers. The incident marked another aviation disaster in a year that has seen multiple deadly aircraft collisions across the United States, including the January 29 collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. That killed 67 people.
The NTSB will lead the investigation and provide all updates going forward.