1 killed in crash of copter at Portia

Witnesses: Rotor hit fuel-truck cab

Jim Penn examines the wreckage of an agricultural helicopter that crashed and flung shrapnel Friday on his farm in Portia, killing a man on the ground.
Jim Penn examines the wreckage of an agricultural helicopter that crashed and flung shrapnel Friday on his farm in Portia, killing a man on the ground.

PORTIA -- An agricultural helicopter crashed while taking off from the back of a fuel truck at a rural Lawrence County farm early Friday, killing a worker who was helping load chemicals.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A map showing the location of a helicopter crash near Portia.

Authorities did not release the name of the worker who died pending notification of family, but multiple sources confirmed to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette the man was Tom Weisenback of Walnut Ridge.

The worker was injured when struck by flying debris from the crash, which occurred at 7:17 a.m., according to Buddy Williams, director of the Lawrence County Office of Emergency Services. A medical helicopter flew Weisenback to Regional Medical Center at Memphis, where he died later Friday morning.

Authorities said the helicopter, a Bell 47G-3B-1 Rotorcraft, was applying chemicals on a rice field owned by Penn Farms on Lawrence County Road 504 just south of Portia. Witnesses said the helicopter, piloted by Jason Hammock, 44, of Walnut Ridge, landed atop a fuel truck loaded with chemicals and fuel.

Hammock took off, witnesses said, but the helicopter's nose dipped forward and its rotor struck the cab of the truck. The helicopter fell upright on the ground near the driver's side of the truck. Hammock was not injured.

"We heard a metal sound and a crash," said Jim Penn, owner of Penn Farms. "It startled everyone."

The crash scene was littered with shards of glass, metal and flight books. Hammock's communication headphones still hung on the dashboard of the small helicopter.

Its red and white rotor was about 75 feet from the chopper, and a section of its tail was thrown about 25 feet from the fuselage.

Paramedic gloves and bandage packaging were strewn near the back of the truck where Weisenback was injured. The site also had pools of white herbicide and a strong smell of diesel fuel.

An employee at Hammock Flying Services in Walnut Ridge said Jason Hammock had flown agricultural helicopters for 22 years and that Weisenback had worked with the company for 11 years.

A similar accident involving Hammock Flying Services occurred in De Queen on July 25. According to a National Transportation Safety Board report, a Bell 47G-4A agricultural helicopter took off from the top of a fuel truck, rose about a foot and "shook violently." The helicopter nosed forward and its rotor hit the cab of the truck.

There were no injuries in the 2015 crash, the National Transportation Safety Board reported. The board found the accident was the result of a failure to conduct "performance planning calculations" before the flight.

A Hammock Flying Services pilot also was forced to make an emergency landing on a rice field near Minturn in Lawrence County on June 6, 2006, after the pilot said the aircraft's turbine engine lost power.

A Federal Aviation Administration investigator examined the aircraft and found no fuel in its tank. No one was injured.

Williams said members of the Federal Aviation Administration were at Penn Farms investigating the crash Friday.

State Desk on 05/14/2016

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