09 October 2023 , 10:52
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One man is dead following a horror helicopter crash.
The deceased man was the pilot and the only person on board when the chopper went down in Croydon, New Hampshire, Croydon Fire Chief Jason Rook confirmed. He was named at 73-year-old Carl Svenson, from Loudon, New Hampshire.
The craft was reported as missing for at least several hours and the Croydon Fire Department first received a report at 10.20pm last night. The helicopter had taken off at about 7.30 p.m. Sunday, but the pilot, who was working for JBI Helicopter Services, could not be tracked shortly after that, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said in a news release Monday.
It was scheduled to fly to a job site in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, about 180 miles (289.6 kilometers) away. It is not yet clear what caused the crash involving Svenson, a pilot of 50 years.
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The pilot was the only one on board (X/Ray Brewer)The aircraft crashed into a responding emergency crews were led to the scene by the smell of fuel.
In a statement, New Hampshire Fish & Game said: "Soon after it departed, the helicopter could not be tracked on RADAR by the employers. Generally a position is sent from the helicopter every couple of minutes to enable the pinpointing of the helicopter’s flight pattern."
Svenson was set to fly to Quonset, Rhode Island and was due to arrive later that night. Crews found the wreckage in a wooded area around 1.50am this morning.
"The helicopter had sustained substantial damage and the pilot, who was the sole occupant, was found deceased," the statement said. "Conservation Officers and members of the Croydon, Springfield, and Grantham Fire Departments assisted in the short carry out to an awaiting UTV to bring the deceased to the road for transport by Newton-Bartlett Funeral Home."
It comes after a devastating plane crash in Utah in which a lawmaker from North Dakota killed four members of the same family. State Senator Doug Larsen, his wife, and their two young sons were killed on their way home when the single-engine Piper Cherokee he was flying crashed in Utah on Sunday after a refueling stop.
One man is dead following the incidentThe family set off after a sendoff to the politician's sister before she deployed overseas. Before leaving, he gave the woman a hug and told her to "stay safe."
Peggy Steimel said it was the first time Larsen, of Mandan, and his family had flown the plane to visit her in Scottsdale, Arizona. She said her brother made the trip so he could be part of her sendoff before she deployed for about a year overseas with the Arizona National Guard.
Larsen had been a Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the North Dakota National Guard, and Steimel tearfully recalled their final conversation and the advice her older brother gave her.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, with a preliminary report expected in two weeks.