Heliport
17th Aug 2003, 20:24
from the Palm Beach PostThree injured when plane, chopper collide
An airplane towing a glider collided with a helicopter Saturday morning above the North County Airport, but only one of the four persons involved was seriously injured, officials said.
Airplane pilot Timothy Barry, 54, was flown to St. Mary's Medical Center following the 11:46 a.m. crash and was in fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Barry, a flight instructor, was flying a Piper Pawnee plane and towing student Kevin Breen in a glider plane, county sheriff's spokesman Diane Carhart said.
Meanwhile, student pilot Anthony Norment of Jupiter was at the controls of a helicopter, with instructor Eva Gehnke in the copilot's seat, Carhart said.
Witnesses said the helicopter descended on top of Barry's plane. The crash occurred about 50 to 100 feet in the air, said Meghan Barry, 25, the daughter of Timothy Barry.
The tow line holding the glider was released and Barry crashed into a wooded area near the runway. Workers at a nearby construction site pulled him from the wreckage, which was entangled in trees and brush.
Breen brought the glider to a safe landing in a grassy area between runways.
"He did a fantastic job of bringing it down," Meghan Barry said.
County paramedics treated Norment and Gehnke for minor injuries at the scene, Carhart said.
The two were performing auto-rotation maneuvers, in which helicopter pilots practice an emergency landing prompted by a stalled engine, Carhart said. Meghan Barry said the helicopter's engine is not actually stalled for the practice maneuver.
Timothy Barry is an experienced pilot and this is the first time he has experienced a crash since he started flying when he was 17 years old, said his wife, Patti Barry. He was not up to discussing the ordeal when reached at his hospital room late Saturday afternoon. "He's not feeling so hot," Patti Barry said.
An airplane towing a glider collided with a helicopter Saturday morning above the North County Airport, but only one of the four persons involved was seriously injured, officials said.
Airplane pilot Timothy Barry, 54, was flown to St. Mary's Medical Center following the 11:46 a.m. crash and was in fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Barry, a flight instructor, was flying a Piper Pawnee plane and towing student Kevin Breen in a glider plane, county sheriff's spokesman Diane Carhart said.
Meanwhile, student pilot Anthony Norment of Jupiter was at the controls of a helicopter, with instructor Eva Gehnke in the copilot's seat, Carhart said.
Witnesses said the helicopter descended on top of Barry's plane. The crash occurred about 50 to 100 feet in the air, said Meghan Barry, 25, the daughter of Timothy Barry.
The tow line holding the glider was released and Barry crashed into a wooded area near the runway. Workers at a nearby construction site pulled him from the wreckage, which was entangled in trees and brush.
Breen brought the glider to a safe landing in a grassy area between runways.
"He did a fantastic job of bringing it down," Meghan Barry said.
County paramedics treated Norment and Gehnke for minor injuries at the scene, Carhart said.
The two were performing auto-rotation maneuvers, in which helicopter pilots practice an emergency landing prompted by a stalled engine, Carhart said. Meghan Barry said the helicopter's engine is not actually stalled for the practice maneuver.
Timothy Barry is an experienced pilot and this is the first time he has experienced a crash since he started flying when he was 17 years old, said his wife, Patti Barry. He was not up to discussing the ordeal when reached at his hospital room late Saturday afternoon. "He's not feeling so hot," Patti Barry said.