EDEN, N.C. (WFMY TV) — A pilot was killed and two others are injured after a Duke Energy helicopter crashed Wednesday in Rockingham County.
The helicopter crashed after 1 p.m. near the Duke Energy plant and off South Edgewood Drive.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a Bell 429 helicopter crashed while the pilot was conducting power line work near Rosewood Lane. There were three people on board, the FAA said. The helicopter and crew were employed by Duke Energy and were surveying power lines at the time of the crash.
Two passengers escaped the flames and the crash wreckage. One man was transported to UNC-Rockingham hospital and the other airlifted to Wake Forest Baptist Health Care. Emergency services said the two men were able to communicate and were conscious. They have not released their names or conditions at this time.
Emergency crews said the crash resulted in a fire in a wooded area. There was a heavy fuel load and crews worked to extinguish the fire. Emergency responders located the pilot who was found dead after extinguishing the fire at the crash site.
Initial reports were that the helicopter crashed into a house but those reports were not confirmed, according to Rockingham County Emergency Services. They also said, the entire crash site was located in the woods and no residences were impacted. No power outages occurred as a result of the crash.
The FAA will be joined by the National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday as they help to investigate and remove the wreckage.
“The FAA will release the tail number of the aircraft after investigators verify it at the accident site. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates. Neither agency identifies people involved in aircraft accidents,” the agency said in a news release.
Photo: ABC11