lørdag 17. november 2012

Power lines x 2

LANDER, Wyo. (AP) - An air ambulance has made a hard landing in rural Fremont County after hitting power lines.

Capt. Ryan Lee of the Fremont County Sheriff's Office says the 1996 Bell 407 helicopter was traveling from Casper to Riverton when it hit power lines about 43 miles east of Riverton. There were three people on board, none of them a medical patient. Only minor injuries were reported.

The pilot was able to land the helicopter despite significant damage. Lee says his department got the call at about 8 a.m. Thursday.

Technicians with High Plains Power were repairing the lines on Thursday afternoon.

The Sheriff's Office and federal officials will continue the accident investigation in coming days.
 
Two die in Corning helicopter crash Thursday (New York)
Emergency responders work near the site of a helicopter crash near the Chemung River in Corning on Thursday.
CORNING - Two men were killed in a helicopter crash near the Chemung River in the City of Corning on Thursday afternoon.

City police said they received a 911 call about the crash was received at 12:09 p.m.

The helicopter was being used by New York State Electric & Gas to inspect transmission lines, according to NYSEG spokesman Clay Ellis.

"The helicopter is not owned by NYSEG. This is a contracted service," Ellis said. "We are cooperating with the authorities that are investigating the crash. NYSEG is deeply saddened by this tragic accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends and co-workers of the two men who were killed in today's crash."

The name of the company that contracted with NYSEG was not available Thursday. The names of the two victims have also not yet been released.

The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the accident. FAA spokesman Jim Peters confirmed that the helicopter was inspecting power lines when it crashed.

An employee of World Kitchen on the south side of the river said the helicopter clipped a power line near their building first, knocking out electricity temporarily before it crashed along the dike on the opposite side of the Chemung River.

"Our power went off three times and when that happens with our tanks, employees dropped everything and went running to get the tanks back on," said the employee, who asked not to be identified. "Employees upstairs thought it was something happening on our roof. They got really scared. it was really loud up here and the explosion was pretty loud.

Brad Turner, assistant director of the Southeast Steuben Area Library, said the power outage went beyond World Kitchen.

"Our lights went out momentarily and our computers went down," Turner said. "I was walking toward our building at the time. I didn't hear anything but there is construction going on nearby. The lights also went out at the Radisson."

The dike where the helicopter crashed is near Corning-Painted Post East High School.

Most school functions went on as normal Thursday but the school district did rush to assure parents that everyone at the school was OK, said school district spokesman Bill Cameron.

"We immediately put a message on our website and got a message out to parents that we had received word of a possible aviation-related accident," Cameron said. "It was not on school property and all of our students and staff are safe. Our seniors have an open campus privilege. We closed that for the remainder of the day. Otherwise it did not affect operations."

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