Helicopter Pilot in Crash is from Louisiana, TYLER COUNTY, September 24, 2015 - The Texas Department of Public Safety released the name of the pilot that survived a helicopter crash this morning (September 24, 2015). Alfred Christian Bell, 48, from Natchitoches, Louisiana, was flying a Bell Helicopter spraying herbicide at a tree farm. Bell was about 150 feet in the air when his helicopter engine died. Bell managed to gyrate the copter away from trees and crashed the helicopter in a clearing. He survived and was flown by medical helicopter to Houston. Original Story Below
Sergeant Gregory Evans with the Texas Highway Patrol, out of Tyler County initiated a preliminary investigation into the accident (which will be turned over to the FAA).
Helicopter Crashes Near County Line Road, TYLER COUNTY, September 24, 2015 - At approximately 10:20 am on September 24, 2015, a helicopter with the company Chem Air, out of Louisiana, was flying in East Polk County at the Polk/Tyler County line. The pilot (who's name is being withheld until further notice) was spraying herbicide and was about 150 feet in the air when his engine died. The pilot managed to gyrate the helicopter to a clearing where it came down and turned over just off Adams Road (Adams Road is off County Line Road off US-190 East). The helicopter crashed on the Tyler County side. Americare Ambulance Service was dispatched to the scene along with Sergeant Mark DuBose with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Tyler County Sheriff's Deputies, the Alabama Coushatta Volunteer Fire Department, the Alabama Coushatta Police Department, and Sergeant Gregory Evans and Trooper Donny Akers with the Texas Highway Patrol. The pilot was transported to a nearby landing zone and was loaded into a PHi Air Medical helicopter and transported to Houston. Preliminarily, the pilot is believed to have sustained a back injury and a possible collapsed lung. Sergeant Evans launched a preliminary investigation that will be turned over the Federal Aviation Administration for their investigation into the crash.
A fireman with the Alabama Coushatta VFD hoses the wreckage.
Tail parts near the main hull of the helicopter.
A truck from Chem Air arrived at the scene of the crash.
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