AS355 Down in Power Lines in Upstate New York
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AS355 Down in Power Lines in Upstate New York
Aren't these lines too small for helo pressure washing? Any idea what they could have been doing?
2 dead in helicopter crash; 2 survive
BY SUZANNE MOORE Editor
4 hrs ago
4 hrs ago
BEEKMANTOWN — Two died after jumping from a helicopter that got caught up in power lines Tuesday afternoon.
Two others were treated then released from University of Vermont Health Network, Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, State Police said in a press release.
The aircraft crashed across from 131 Burke Road at about 4:15 p.m.The victims, whose names were not released, were contractors working on the power lines for the New York Power Authority, Clinton County Emergency Services Director Eric Day said.
All four leaped from the burning chopper, falling from the height of the power poles there, about 40 feet.
A man who was working on a nearby garage helped pull them away before the burning wreckage of the chopper could fall on them.
It came crashing down less than 10 minutes later, he said, declining to give his name.
"They jumped out," he said. "It was either jump out or burn to death."
'THEY JUMPED'
Brenda Trombley, 57, who owns the home and attached garage that contractor was working on, confirmed his account.
Nearby farmers who saw the flaming chopper also ran to help, she said.
Firefighters were dousing the burning wreckage at around 4:30 p.m. as thick black smoke billowed skyward.
The chopper's landing gear was still hanging from the power lines.
CPR IN PROGRESS
State Police said the workers in the chopper were installing a series of pulleys at the top of the utility poles that would be used later to run a fiber optic line alongside the existing power lines.
They run from a nearby substation to another one in Vermont, and no customers should have lost power as a result of the accident, Day said.
Two Clinton County Sheriff's Department deputies, who arrived first, immediately began performing life saving measures and then moved the victims further away from the crash site, Day said.
One person was "in code" and CPR was in progress, a radio report over the scanner said shortly after the crash.
A radio transmission broadcast over the scanner described the condition of the one victim as he was taken by ambulance to CVPH in Plattsburgh.
The man was having trouble breathing, had chest pain and an open laceration from the fall, the report said.
INITIAL REPORTS
Clinton County Dispatch first reported that the helicopter had crashed into a house, but the accident took place in a corn field, at least 40 feet from the nearest residence.First-responders reported seeing smoke as they approached the location at the intersection of Burke and Pardy roads.
Advance Life Support crew were among those who responded to the crash.
Burke Road was closed between Route 22 and Pardy Road.
Radio reports from another ambulance at about about 5:15 p.m. indicated the patient it carried had witnessed the crash and was "in extreme respiratory distress."
PROBE CONTINUES
The helicopter is owned by Catalyst Aviation LLC of Hammonton, N.J., State Police said in a statement issued at about 8 p.m.
Along with the Sheriff's Department, State Police was being assisted at the crash site by the State Department of Environmental Conservation, Clinton County Emergency Services and local fire and rescue personnel.
"State Police have been in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board," the statement said.
The investigation was continuing.
Two others were treated then released from University of Vermont Health Network, Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, State Police said in a press release.
The aircraft crashed across from 131 Burke Road at about 4:15 p.m.The victims, whose names were not released, were contractors working on the power lines for the New York Power Authority, Clinton County Emergency Services Director Eric Day said.
All four leaped from the burning chopper, falling from the height of the power poles there, about 40 feet.
A man who was working on a nearby garage helped pull them away before the burning wreckage of the chopper could fall on them.
It came crashing down less than 10 minutes later, he said, declining to give his name.
"They jumped out," he said. "It was either jump out or burn to death."
'THEY JUMPED'
Brenda Trombley, 57, who owns the home and attached garage that contractor was working on, confirmed his account.
Nearby farmers who saw the flaming chopper also ran to help, she said.
Firefighters were dousing the burning wreckage at around 4:30 p.m. as thick black smoke billowed skyward.
The chopper's landing gear was still hanging from the power lines.
CPR IN PROGRESS
State Police said the workers in the chopper were installing a series of pulleys at the top of the utility poles that would be used later to run a fiber optic line alongside the existing power lines.
They run from a nearby substation to another one in Vermont, and no customers should have lost power as a result of the accident, Day said.
Two Clinton County Sheriff's Department deputies, who arrived first, immediately began performing life saving measures and then moved the victims further away from the crash site, Day said.
One person was "in code" and CPR was in progress, a radio report over the scanner said shortly after the crash.
A radio transmission broadcast over the scanner described the condition of the one victim as he was taken by ambulance to CVPH in Plattsburgh.
The man was having trouble breathing, had chest pain and an open laceration from the fall, the report said.
INITIAL REPORTS
Clinton County Dispatch first reported that the helicopter had crashed into a house, but the accident took place in a corn field, at least 40 feet from the nearest residence.First-responders reported seeing smoke as they approached the location at the intersection of Burke and Pardy roads.
Advance Life Support crew were among those who responded to the crash.
Burke Road was closed between Route 22 and Pardy Road.
Radio reports from another ambulance at about about 5:15 p.m. indicated the patient it carried had witnessed the crash and was "in extreme respiratory distress."
PROBE CONTINUES
The helicopter is owned by Catalyst Aviation LLC of Hammonton, N.J., State Police said in a statement issued at about 8 p.m.
Along with the Sheriff's Department, State Police was being assisted at the crash site by the State Department of Environmental Conservation, Clinton County Emergency Services and local fire and rescue personnel.
"State Police have been in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board," the statement said.
The investigation was continuing.
It's in the report that you posted:
State Police said the workers in the chopper were installing a series of pulleys at the top of the utility poles that would be used later to run a fiber optic line alongside the existing power lines.
Sad, that must be one of the most demanding jobs in utility.
Was that too high for a cherry picker, they normally use helos for high tension work.
Prayers for those who perished and their families.
Was that too high for a cherry picker, they normally use helos for high tension work.
Prayers for those who perished and their families.
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Its certainly not too high for a cherry picker, but with the lines below energized, It would have to be worked as if energized, so it is very very slow and much more expensive. Helicopters have been doing it this way daily for the last 20 years, changing out old static wires for fiber. On any given day there are at least a dozen 500's changing out static for fiber in the US. This is the first company I know of in the US using a AStar, or in this case, twin star, and they are new to the industry.
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