A small-plane pilot was killed and two Pennsylvania State Police troopers were injured Wednesday evening following a violent midair collision between a Bell 407 helicopter and a Cessna 150 at Carlisle Regional Airport in Cumberland County.
The crash occurred shortly before 7:00 p.m. during routine police flight training exercises. Officials said the state police helicopter, based out of Harrisburg, was hovering just a few feet off the ground over a grassy area adjacent to the runway when the approaching single-engine Cessna struck it from behind.
According to Lt. Col. George Bivens, acting commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, the Cessna was descending toward a nearby runway when it suddenly veered off course.
“As that Cessna came down along that runway, for an unknown reason, it veered hard to the right at the last moment,” Bivens said during a late-night press briefing. “The pilots would not have been able to even see that airplane approaching them.”
The Cessna struck the helicopter’s tail rotor before colliding with the main rotor system. The force of the impact severed the tail boom and blades of the Bell 407, causing the helicopter to roll onto its side and roof. The airplane broke into several pieces upon impact a short distance away.
The two state troopers aboard the helicopter—identified as Corporal Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills—were briefly trapped inside the overturned wreckage. Corman was able to kick out a window and assist his partner, who was bleeding heavily, out of the aircraft.
Both officers were rushed to Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Emergency room trauma staff confirmed that both troopers sustained relatively minor injuries and are in stable condition.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro met with the troopers and their families at the hospital late Wednesday, praising the swift actions of first responders and medical staff.
“Our prayers were all answered that they are going to be okay and survive their injuries,” Shapiro told reporters.
The pilot of the Cessna 150 was declared dead at the scene. Authorities have not yet publicly released the pilot’s name, pending notification of next of kin. Investigators believe the pilot was the sole occupant of the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched a joint investigation to determine the cause of the crash. Investigators are reviewing radio transmissions, radar tracking data, and wreckage patterns to figure out why the Cessna veered off its path into the hovering helicopter.
