Pilot killed as small plane collides with state police helicopter at Pennsylvania airport, officials say

One person was killed and two Pennsylvania State Police troopers were injured when a small plane crashed into a state police helicopter while it was hovering several feet off the ground during a training exercise at an airport in central Pennsylvania on Wednesday evening, authorities said.

The collision at Carlisle Airport in Cumberland County involved a Cessna 150 and a Bell 407 chopper, the Federal Aviation Administration said. 

The pilot of the Cessna, who was its only occupant, was killed in the collision, acting Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Lt. Col. George Bivens said at a news conference Wednesday night. 

The two pilots aboard the chopper, who were members of the state police's elite aviation unit, were injured but are expected to survive, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at the briefing. 

The helicopter, based out of Harrisburg, was conducting routine training exercises at Carlisle Airport when the crash occurred just before 7 p.m. local time, Bivens said.  

The helicopter was hovering several feet off the ground in a grassy area adjacent to a runway when a small Cessna "approached from behind" and lined up with one of the runways near that grass area, Bivens told reporters.

"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."

Pennsylvania State Police said in a later statement that the collision occurred while the helicopter was "on the ground."

The National Transportation Safety Board initially called the incident "a midair collision."

"What is sticking in my mind, it was the crash, the the loud sounds more than anything, just because it was so loud, it was kind of shocking," eyewitness Lloyd Slusser said.

Bivens described the crash as "violent," saying the helicopter "rolled inverted and crashed into the ground on its side and partially onto its roof."

The Cessna pilot, identified by authorities as Paul Sokoloski, 57, died at the scene. Both helicopter pilots were initially trapped, but one of them was able to push out a window and get both of them out, Bivens disclosed. 

"The pilot was in a little bit worse shape," Slusser said. "He kind of immediately went down. The first responders attended to him. I kind of stayed with the copilot."

They were taken to Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Dr. Ashley Ludwig, trauma director at the hospital, said in the briefing both pilots sustained minor injuries and were stable.

Cpl. Bryce Korman and Trooper Jason Mills were the two state police officers injured in the crash, state Sen. Doug Mastriano wrote on social media.

FAA officials were on scene, and NTSB investigators were arriving overnight, Bivens said. The FAA said the NTSB would lead the investigation, with the FAA assisting.

"There is some video and photographs that are available that will be used to reconstruct what occurred," Bivens said.   

The NTSB noted that after the wreckage was documented, it would "be moved to a secure facility for further examination."  

"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 is located about 120 miles west of Philadelphia.