Chris Dupree is alive today, and he knows he’s fortunate.
Dupree was the one piloting the two-seater helicopter that went down on Old U.S. 70 just inside McDowell Monday afternoon.
“The engine started to sputter,” he said Tuesday, adding that he made some adjustments in an unsuccessful attempt to restart the engine. “I knew we were going down, and I just knew we were going to hit the trees. I selected a good spot, and we landed in the kudzu. I didn’t panic.”
Dupree, who lives in
Greenville,
S.C., works for WNC Aviation out of
Asheville. He was flying his passenger, Jean Paul Damé of
Raleigh, around the area to film footage for a documentary about invasive species. Damé is
a director with Firehorse Films.
Both men crawled from Monday’s crash nearly unscathed. Dupree said Tuesday that they both have some minor cuts and bruises, but a lot of those were gathered when they scaled a 100-foot embankment to reach the road.
The
crash site was located approximately 300 feet below Point Lookout.
Dupree stated that they passed over the dense patch of kudzu, and Damé requested that he turn around and fly back over it at a slower speed.
“We were only about 30 or 40 feet above the trees,” said the pilot. “We were fortunate. It could have happened when we were 600 feet in the air. … If that had been the case, I wouldn’t be talking to you now.”
Dupree stated that he shouted a long line of expletives once they hit the ground. He called for help, turned everything off and the two climbed from the wreckage. Within minutes, he added, the word had gotten out and there were other helicopters in the area searching for them.
Investigators with the
Federal Aviation Administration were in McDowell Tuesday examining the crash, but officials have said it will be some time before they release a report.
The pilot said he didn’t know much about the cleanup process. It’s something WNC Aviation’s
insurance company will handle, he stated.
One thing he does know, though, is that he will be back in the air.
“I refuse to let this deter me from flying,” Dupree stated.