Overview
- A Cessna 150 and a Pennsylvania State Police Bell 407 collided near Carlisle Regional Airport on Wednesday evening, killing the Cessna pilot who was later identified as Paul Sokoloski.
- State police say the helicopter was conducting a routine training hover beside a runway when the Cessna veered sharply to the right and struck the helicopter’s rear rotors, triggering a violent crash sequence.
- Both troopers aboard the helicopter, Corporal Pilot Bryce Corman and Trooper Pilot Jason Mills, were initially trapped but freed; they were taken to Penn State Hershey Medical Center with minor injuries and are in stable condition.
- The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation with FAA assistance and has secured wreckage, video, photographs, radio transmissions and flight‑tracking data for analysis; no probable cause has been determined.
- Carlisle is an uncontrolled field where pilots self‑announce on a common frequency, so investigators will closely examine communications and local operating procedures and the inquiry could take many months to reach final findings.