Overview
- The collision happened Wednesday evening when a Cessna 150 veered into a Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania State Police Bell 407 that was hovering for training beside a runway at Carlisle Regional Airport, and the Cessna pilot died at the scene.
- Both helicopter pilots, identified as Corporal Pilot Bryce Corman and Trooper Pilot Jason Mills, were trapped briefly but escaped with help from Corman and were treated at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries.
- Federal and state teams led by the National Transportation Safety Board and assisted by the FAA and Pennsylvania State Police are collecting wreckage, video, photographs and radio recordings and have not yet determined a probable cause.
- Investigators will review communications on the airport’s common traffic advisory frequency and maintenance records for the Cessna after preliminary accounts said the airplane veered sharply before striking the helicopter’s tail and main rotors.
- The crash spotlights safety questions about mixed helicopter and fixed‑wing operations at uncontrolled fields and follows several prior NTSB inquiries at Carlisle, with a final probable‑cause finding expected to take months or longer.