Accident Overview
On August 12, 2023, at approximately 0950 eastern daylight time, a Bell 47G-5 helicopter (registration N1503L) was destroyed in an accident near Mifflinville, Pennsylvania. The helicopter was operating under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. The pilot sustained fatal injuries.
Wreckage and Scene
According to statements from the pilot's brother, who was also a helicopter pilot, the pilot had completed about seven application flights that morning and had just taken off with an eighth load from a truck parked in a field about 2 miles from the corn field being sprayed. The brother received a telephone call reporting the crash. While driving to the site, he observed power lines down in the street and noticed that the helicopter's skid and spraying boom were entangled with the power lines; the boom was located in a tree by the road.
The accident site was in the corn field approximately 20 yards from the road. The helicopter came to rest on its left side, and a postaccident fire consumed the engine and fuel tanks. The tail rotor was found about 20 yards from the main wreckage. The spray boom and one skid were found about 30 yards away in a tree, entangled in the power lines.
Pilot Information
The pilot had completed an aerial application training program and was signed off to act as pilot in command for aerial applications on July 3, 2010. The training included a skills test focusing on low-level maneuvering and obstacle identification in the working area.
Autopsy Findings
An autopsy performed by Forensic Pathology Associates, Allentown, Pennsylvania, for the Columbia County Coroner's Office determined the pilot's cause of death as multiple injuries, with the manner of death classified as accidental. The autopsy also identified coronary artery disease, including 90% narrowing of the obtuse marginal artery by plaque, up to 25% narrowing of other coronary arteries, an enlarged heart with right ventricular dilatation and left ventricular hypertrophy, and a small area of white discoloration on the anterior left cardiac ventricle. Microscopic examination revealed enlarged heart muscle cells.