Heliport
17th May 2003, 19:20
Press report
NEW CANAAN, Conn. A small helicopter crash-landed on a driveway in an upscale residential area Thursday, but the pilot and his passenger were able to escape with only minor injuries.
"I saw the helicopter falling through the trees. It landed upside down on the stone wall," said Beverley Campbell, 39, a witness who lives in the neighborhood on White Oak Shade Road. "It just sounded like a big tree crashing down."
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/media/photo/2003-05/7823416.jpg
Campbell said she ran out of her home just before noon and saw two men climb out of the cab of the helicopter. She ran to get a bucket to help catch the leaking fuel, while the pilot, Michael DeMarchi, 45, of Carmel, N.Y., pulled out a fire extinguisher.
Also injured in the crash was Andre Aragon, a 30-year-old photographer from Suffern, N.Y.
DeMarchi, a 30-year pilot employed by Centennial Helicopters at Danbury Airport, and Aragon were treated and released from Norwalk Hospital.
Aragon was photographing local properties, said Sgt. David Ferris of the Norwalk Police Department. It was not clear why the properties were being photographed but it was not unusual for someone to be taking aerial pictures of homes and estates in New Canaan, which is home to David Lettermen and other wealthy celebrities and business executives.
The Schweizer 269-C lost engine power, and DeMarchi tried to land in a clearing but instead crashed through trees that broke the fall, according to police and the FAA.
NEW CANAAN, Conn. A small helicopter crash-landed on a driveway in an upscale residential area Thursday, but the pilot and his passenger were able to escape with only minor injuries.
"I saw the helicopter falling through the trees. It landed upside down on the stone wall," said Beverley Campbell, 39, a witness who lives in the neighborhood on White Oak Shade Road. "It just sounded like a big tree crashing down."
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/media/photo/2003-05/7823416.jpg
Campbell said she ran out of her home just before noon and saw two men climb out of the cab of the helicopter. She ran to get a bucket to help catch the leaking fuel, while the pilot, Michael DeMarchi, 45, of Carmel, N.Y., pulled out a fire extinguisher.
Also injured in the crash was Andre Aragon, a 30-year-old photographer from Suffern, N.Y.
DeMarchi, a 30-year pilot employed by Centennial Helicopters at Danbury Airport, and Aragon were treated and released from Norwalk Hospital.
Aragon was photographing local properties, said Sgt. David Ferris of the Norwalk Police Department. It was not clear why the properties were being photographed but it was not unusual for someone to be taking aerial pictures of homes and estates in New Canaan, which is home to David Lettermen and other wealthy celebrities and business executives.
The Schweizer 269-C lost engine power, and DeMarchi tried to land in a clearing but instead crashed through trees that broke the fall, according to police and the FAA.