The pilot of a Cessna 150 was killed and two Pennsylvania state troopers were injured when the plane collided with a state police helicopter during an attempted landing.
The police helicopter was hovering above the ground on a training mission at Carlisle Airport, 90 miles north of the District of Columbia, just before 7 p.m. Wednesday as pilot Paul Sokoloski, 57, tried to land the Cessna. The plane then veered off the north end of the runway for unknown reasons and struck the back of the helicopter, state police said in a release Thursday.
The Cumberland County Coroner’s Office pronounced Mr. Sokoloski, the plane’s sole occupant, dead at the scene, the state police said.
Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills were airlifted for medical treatment. The state police said that as of Thursday afternoon, Cpl. Corman had been released while Trooper Mills remained hospitalized in stable condition.
Acting Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Lt. Col. George Bivens said at a news conference that the helicopter was at Carlisle Airport for a training exercise.
“The pilots would not have been able to even see that airplane approaching them,” Lt. Col. Bivens said. “It hit the rear tail rotor and went into the main rotor of the helicopter, resulting in a very violent crash. The plane crashed into the ground a short distance ahead in many pieces. The helicopter, without its blades and without its tail boom, rolled inverted and crashed into the ground on its side and partially over onto its roof.”
Witness Lloyd Slusser told CBS News, “What is sticking in my mind, it was the crash, the loud sounds more than anything, just because it was so loud, it was kind of shocking.”
Lt. Col. Bivens said that while there is not an air traffic control tower at Carlisle Airport, there is a radio frequency used for traffic communication.
An investigation into the crash by the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board is ongoing. The NTSB is leading the effort, the FAA said in a statement.
Mr. Sokoloski was an emergency medicine doctor for Penn State Health, which said in a statement that “the Penn State Health community is deeply saddened by the loss of Dr. Paul Sokoloski, a valued member of our emergency medicine team. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues during this incredibly difficult time,” according to WCAU-TV.
In a statement on social media Thursday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said that he and his wife “are praying for the family of Paul Sokoloski … May his memory be a blessing.”
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