State Police Helicopter Collides With Small Airplane In Midair

WATCH: New video captures the moment a small plane crashed into Pennsylvania State Police helicopter at Carlisle Airport yesterday. 1 dead, 2 injured. pic.twitter.com/fzamCIY2MG

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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.”

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.

The Federal Aviation Administration arrived at the crash scene Wednesday night, and the National Transportation Safety Board was expected to arrive overnight.

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A Cessna 150H collided with a Pennsylvania State Police Bell 407GX helicopter at Carlisle Airport on Wednesday.

The helicopter was conducting a routine training exercise and had landed on the runway. The Cessna was landing after the helicopter and struck it from the rear.

The… pic.twitter.com/WDPAhyLC69

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A witness nearby said he was mowing his lawn when he heard the crash.

Heard a helicopter come in, turn around, saw it was a state police helicopter. Didn’t really think too much of it. I watched it for a few seconds. They were doing some routine training maneuvers,” Lloyd Slusser recalled. “From that point on, I just kind of turned my back and started mowing again. Probably five seconds after I turned my back, I had heard a huge crash. Immediately grabbed the phone. My neighbor was out and she said she’d called 911.

At 6:52 p.m., state police said the helicopter was hovering several feet off the ground over a grassy area, adjacent to a runway, when a small Cessna model 150 that was lined up to land on a runway veered right at the last moment, striking the helicopter in the rear.

“The helicopter, without its blades and without its tail boom, rolled inverted and crashed into the ground on its side, and partially onto its roof,” Bivens said. “Both pilots from inside the helicopter were trapped inside the helicopter.”

The Cessna crashed a short distance away and broke into multiple pieces.

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