One dead, one critical and one injured in helicopter crash
<p>Emergency responders transport a victim of the helicopter crash near Prospect Creek outside of Thompson Falls. The victim was loaded into a waiting ambulance and transported to the Thompson Falls Airport where they were met by Life Flight out of Missoula.</p>
THOMPSON FALLS - A Robinson R442 helicopter crashed with a crew of three in the Prospect Creek area on Saturday, July 27 leaving the pilot dead, one in critical condition and one injured.
The pilot has been identified as 35-year-old Todd Hanawalt of Bozeman.
Crews responded to a downed helicopter 10 miles up Prospect Creek Saturday afternoon. The helicopter crashed around 1 p.m., although responders did not make it to the scene till 3 p.m. due to steep terrain and difficulty finding the exact location.
About 30 personnel from the Forest Service, Thompson Falls City Fire Department, Thompson Falls Rural Fire Department, the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office and Sanders County Search and Rescue responded to the scene of the crash.
The helicopter involved in the accident was surveying power lines in the area when it crashed, although the cause of the crash remains unknown.
The company that maintains the lines the crew were working on is an energy company based in South Dakota called Northwestern Energy.
Reached for comment, Northwestern Energy Spokesman Butch Larcombe told the Valley Press that the company subconracted another company who hired the crew to do the aerial survey.
“It’s a tragedy by any description,” said Larcombe.
The emergency beacon alerted first responders to the approximate location of the helicopter after an electronic signal was released.
The crash occurred about 1,000 yards off of the road and crews had to cross a creek and clear woody debris out of their path before reaching the site location.
The location was pinpointed after one of the survivors made their way to the road and flagged down a passing vehicle.
One survivor of the accident was transported by Life Flight out of Missoula. The helicopter took off from the Thompson Falls Airport and headed to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.
Investigator Tom Little from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived on Sunday around 3:30 p.m. to inspect the scene. Little was accompanied by a representative from the Federal Aviation Administration, a representative from Robinson Helicopter Company and a representative from Lycoming which builds the engines in that particular model of aircraft.
The group was on the scene until about 8 p.m. Sunday evening surveying the scene of the accident. Little said the aircraft was laying inverted in a grove of trees just east of the power lines.
“We documented how it laid and we took photographs,” said Little. “The wreckage will now go to Bozeman for further investigation.”
Little said the investigation will now center on three main aspects. Investigators will examine the engine and the aircraft itself to determine if components such as electrical, instrument and flight control systems may have failed.
The second aspect taken into consideration will be the condition of the weather at the time of the accident.
The third will examine the so called “human factor.” The experience level of the pilot and the amount of hours spent in this particular aircraft will be examined to ascertain whether human error played a role.
“We will be laying out the aircraft and we will go through all the systems and attempt to discern what precipitated the event,” said Little. “It is a very detailed operation.”
Little said that while preliminary information will be released soon, the cause of the accident may not be known and released to the public for many months.
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Updated at 5:55 p.m. Saturday, July 27
THOMPSON FALLS - A helicopter crash that occurred in the Prospect Creek area on Saturday, July 27 left one man dead, one in critical condition and one injured.
Crews responded to a downed helicopter 10 miles up Prospect Creek Saturday afternoon. The helicopter crashed around 1 p.m., although responders did not make it to the scene till 3 p.m. due to steep terrain and difficulty finding the exact location.
About 30 personnel from the Forest Service, Thompson Falls City Fire Department, Thompson Falls Rural Fire Department, the Sanders County Sheriff's Office and Sanders County Search and Rescue responded to the scene of the crash.
The helicopter involved in the accident was surveying power lines in the area when it crashed, although the cause of the crash remains unknown.
The emergency beacon alerted first responders to the approximate location of the helicopter after an electronic signal was released.
The crash occurred about 1,000 yards off of the road and crews had to cross a creek and clear woody debris out of their path before reaching the site location.
The location was pinpointed after one of the survivors made their way to the road and flagged down a passing vehicle.
One survivor of the accident was transported by Life Flight out of Missoula. It is unknown if the second survivor was transported as well. The helicopter took off from the Thompson Falls Airport and headed to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.
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Reports of a possible downed helicopter came over the police scanner at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 27. Sanders County Search and Rescue is currently en route to Prospect Creek to search for the suspected crash.
More information will be posted as updates are made available.