DeWITT -- A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report says several bird carcasses were found in the wreckage of a medical helicopter that crashed last month in eastern Arkansas, killing all three people aboard.
The cause of the Nov. 19 crash remains under investigation, but local officials have suggested that a large number of geese in the area may be to blame.
The safety board report says residents near the accident site reported hearing a boom and seeing a fire plume. The helicopter was traveling from Pine Bluff to pick up a patient in Helena-West Helena.
Killed in the crash were pilot Michael Bollen, 46, of Hot Springs; flight nurse James Lawson Spruiell, 61, of Sulligent, Ala.; and flight paramedic John "Trey" Auld III, 26, of Shreveport.
State Desk on 12/02/2017