Pictured: Air ambulance landing to transport the injured pilot (Denison Fire Department)
Officials say a Sunday morning helicopter crash northeast of Deloit is believed to have been caused by a collision with high-voltage transmission lines in the area. According to Deloit Fire Chief Jerry Lorenzen, area agencies responded to the crash scene north of the Boyer Avenue and 290th Street intersection. Authorities say the unidentified pilot was crop dusting fields in the area when it ran into the nearby powerlines. The helicopter’s forward momentum came to a complete stop and plummeted 50+ feet to the ground below. Crews were initially unable to find the crash site, and a spotting aircraft out of Denison was called in to assist. First responders say the pilot was conscious and communicating when they arrived. He needed to be mechanically extricated from the scene and was airlifted from the scene with serious but nonlife-threatening injuries to a hospital in Omaha, Neb. Lorenzen notes a similar crash involving a crop-dusting airplane occurred at almost the exact same site nearly 30 years ago. The Deloit Fire Department was assisted at the scene by the Vail, Denison, and Kiron Fire Departments, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, Crawford County Emergency Medical Services, and Iowa State Patrol. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is conducting a full investigation into the crash.
