Patrick McCloskey/Facebook(BLOOMSBURG, Penn.) — A sightseeing helicopter smashed into several parked cars outside a fairgrounds in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, injuring three people on board the aircraft.
The helicopter crashed at about 8 p.m. in a parking lot at the Bloomsburg Fair in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, about 90 minutes north of the state capital of Harrisburg.
All three people who were injured were on the helicopter, including the pilot and two passengers. The three were taken to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries, Bloomsburg Police Chief William Gelgot said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
“An Enstrom F28F sightseeing helicopter crashed south of the helipad at the Bloomsburg Fair in Bloomsburg, Pa, today at 8:15 p.m.,” the FAA said in a statement. “Contact local authorities for information on the pilot and persons on board the helicopter. The FAA will investigate and the NTSB will determine the probable cause of the accident.”
Photos from the fair’s Lot C showed the helicopter on its side with a bent rotor sticking up into the air and several damaged cars nearby.
It’s not clear if the helicopter was landing or taking off at the time of the incident.
The FAA is expected to arrive Sunday morning, Gelgot said.
There were over 64,000 attendees on Friday night, according to organizers. The fair’s website advertises the helicopter rides, operated by J & J Shop Heliair, for $20 per person.
A pilot of a helicopter was killed by a rotating blade at the Bloomsburg Fair in 2013, according to Scranton ABC affiliate WNEP.
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