A tragic incident occurred Wednesday night when a civilian plane and a police helicopter collided in mid-air at a Pennsylvania airport, resulting in one fatality.
The pilot of the plane, 57-year-old Paul Sokolowski, who was a physician and flight instructor associated with Penn State Health, lost his life in the crash. Two troopers from the Pennsylvania State Police sustained injuries and were transported to the hospital for medical care.
Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania expressed his condolences, noting he had visited the families of the state police captains involved and shared that he was praying for Sokolowski’s family, who was flying the Cessna 150 at the time of the accident.
In a statement from the Cumberland County Pennsylvania Twitter account, they conveyed their sympathies to the family of the deceased pilot and acknowledged the ongoing recovery of Corporal Korman and Trooper Mills. They also expressed gratitude toward the first responders.
The Cessna 150 had been taxiing at Carlisle’s small airport and veered unexpectedly into the path of a helicopter that was hovering close to the ground. This series of events was categorized as a mid-air collision by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
“For reasons not yet determined, it moved sharply to the right at the last moment,” Lt. Col. George Bivens, the acting state police chief, mentioned at a press conference, adding that the pilots of the helicopter did not have any visual warning before the crash.
Bivens described the crash as extremely violent, noting that the plane was severely damaged, almost shattered. He also stated that the helicopter lost its blades and tail boom in the collision.
According to Bivens, the troopers were trapped inside the helicopter, but one managed to push through a window to assist the other out of the wreckage.
During a news conference, Governor Shapiro remarked that the situation could have ended even more tragically for the families of the state troopers.
Shapiro, along with Congressman Scott Perry and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, invited the public to keep the survivors and the families of those affected in their thoughts and prayers. Duffy also pledged support for Shapiro in the NTSB investigation.
