A helicopter that crash-landed May 30 in dense woods in Whitefield has reportedly been removed from the site.
The Bell OH-53A craft, belonging to Maine Helicopters Inc., of Whitefield, was to be brought to the company’s property, about a mile south of the crash site. There, investigators would continue to seek the cause of the crash that left the pilot with minor injuries but able to walk out of the woods.
Additional Images
Videos
The pilot involved in the crash was identified as Mike Connolly, and he was reportedly flying alone from Bangor to the Whitefield company heliport, which was not far from the crash site off East River Road near Clary Lake and Route 126.
The investigation is being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board.
A call to that agency was not returned Wednesday.
Earlier, Brian Rayner, an air safety investigator with the agency, said he had given the company permission to move it from the woods to the hangar.
There was an early indication that the aircraft might have run out of fuel, and fuel was collected from the helicopter, but part of the investigation will be to determine if there was enough fuel on board.
“We need to work to figure out why this occurred and make sure it doesn’t have fleetwide implications,” he had said.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.