A man driving in Mountain Home lost control of his car Thursday and struck two helicopters parked at the Baxter County sheriff's office.
The unidentified driver was traveling south on Arkansas 5 toward U.S. 62 when he crashed about 4 p.m., Sheriff John Montgomery said.
Instead of turning at U.S. 62, the terminus of Arkansas 5, the vehicle continued and flew off a terrace into the helicopters below, according to surveillance footage released by the sheriff's office.
Montgomery estimated the terrace was about 10 feet high. A chain-link fence also was damaged in the crash.
"I was in my office and I heard the crash and yelled out 'somebody crashed,' because we do occasionally have a crash at that intersection," he said.
The car landed on its passenger side and rolled upside-down. Its driver was injured, but his condition was unknown late Thursday.
Montgomery said the two OH-58 Kiowa helicopters were "basically destroyed." The choppers, built in 1970, had been recently acquired by the sheriff's office as surplus vehicles from the Army and state police, he said.
The sheriff's office was stripping parts from the choppers to build "one flyable helicopter," Montgomery said. The helicopter currently used by the sheriff's office wasn't damaged in the crash. It was parked in a hangar about 150 feet away.
Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said the accident is under investigation.
Metro on 08/08/2014