NTSB releases report on Arkansas helicopter crash that killed worker

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.

The pilot of a helicopter involved in a fatal crash earlier this month near Portia lost control of the aircraft while attempting to free it from a piece of elevated platform during take-off, officials said in a preliminary report.

A National Transportation Safety Board report states that the aircraft, a Bell 47G-3B-1 Rotorcraft, tipped forward as pilot Jason Hammock, 44, of Walnut Ridge attempted to remove it from entanglement.

“The main rotors contacted the service truck and the helicopter impacted terrain,” officials said. “Substantial damage was sustained to the helicopter’s main rotors, tail boom and fuselage.”

Flying debris from the crash at 7:17 a.m. May 13 then fatally struck a worker who was helping to load chemicals for a rice field owned by Penn Farms, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.

Multiple sources confirmed to the newspaper that the worker was Tom Weisenback of Walnut Ridge.

Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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

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