Pilot Dies, 2 Troopers Injured as Plane and State Police Helicopter Collide Near Carlisle Airport
CARLISLE, Pa. — The pilot of a small airplane was killed and two Pennsylvania State Police troopers were injured when the Cessna 150 collided in midair with a state police helicopter Wednesday evening near Carlisle Airport, authorities said.
The helicopter, a Bell 407, was conducting a training exercise when the collision occurred shortly before 7 p.m., Pennsylvania State Police Acting Commissioner Col. George Bivens said. The Cumberland County Coroner’s Office on Thursday identified the pilot as Dr. Paul Sokoloski, 57, of Hershey. He was the plane’s sole occupant and a certified flight instructor, according to National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge Aaron McCarter. Penn State Health described Sokoloski as a “valued member of our emergency medicine team.”
The two troopers inside the helicopter — Cpl. Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills — were injured in the crash but are expected to recover, Gov. Josh Shapiro said. Bivens said both were initially trapped in the wreckage, but Corman pushed out a window and helped Mills escape. Their injuries were described as minor, and they were in stable condition.
“Tonight could have been much worse,” Shapiro said Wednesday night at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
McCarter said the helicopter had completed a “hover taxi,” staying a few feet above the ground, and had begun moving toward the side of the runway when the plane arrived. “When he comes off the runway, that’s when the Cessna came in, straight level, suddenly increased its pitch, severe nose up,” McCarter said. The plane turned and leveled off, then “flew into the back of the helicopter.”
The impact was “very violent,” according to Bivens. The Cessna crashed a short distance away and broke into multiple pieces. The helicopter lost its blades before hitting the ground and rolling onto its side.
Security camera video of the collision, verified by ABC News, circulated widely online. McCarter acknowledged the dramatic footage, saying, “So we see the outcome, but we want to understand why it happened.”
Carlisle Airport is uncontrolled, meaning there is no air traffic control tower or controllers on site. Aircraft coordinate movements on a shared radio frequency. McCarter said there is “strong evidence” the Cessna pilot was aware the helicopter was hovering in the area, adding, “They were in communication with each other.”
McCarter said the NTSB’s investigation into the “catastrophic” crash will examine “the man, the machine, the environment.” He noted that witnesses reported the Cessna pilot had done maintenance on the aircraft at Carlisle a day before the crash, and investigators will review those records. “I’m not saying the maintenance had anything to do with it. That was just one of the factors,” he said. McCarter also said the pilot had flown south for several hours Wednesday to conduct some type of training before returning to Carlisle.
The crash renews attention on safety at non-towered airports, where arrivals and training flights are separated by radio calls and visual scanning rather than a controller’s direction. The NTSB has not released a timeline for its findings, and the cause remains under investigation.