Mid-Air Collision of Plane and Helicopter Claims One Life, Two Injured in 'Violent' Crash Near Airport

A SMALL plane and a helicopter have collided mid-air with one killed and two injured after the “very violent” crash.

The airplane pilot died at the scene with two Pennsylvania state troopers on the police marked helicopter among the wounded.

Photos show the mangled wreckage of the Cessna 150 two-seat airplane and the Bell 407 helicopter near the Carlisle Airport in Cumberland County.

Both came down at around 7.50pm local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens, Acting Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, said the pilot was the only person on board the plane.

The jet, which was found “cut into a lot of pieces on the ground,” he added.

Corporal Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills were the two men injured in the collision.

They are both Pennsylvania State Police elite aviation unit pilots and are expected to recover after being rushed to hospital.

Pennsylvania State Police pilots were conducting routine training exercises close to a runway at the airport when the Cessna jet began to approach.

The plane veered to the right to try and avoid a collision at the last moment but still smashed into the rear of the helicopter.

Both came crashing down to the ground in what Bivens called “a very violent crash”.

The helicopter pilots were initially trapped inside the chopper as it rolled onto its side.

Brave Corman managed to smash open a window and help rescue Mills, who is believed to have suffered more severe injuries.

Police praised the efforts of medical staff at Hershey Medical Center and the wuikc emergency response to the airport.

They said the events “could have been much more tragic”.

Investigations into why the helicopter was allowed to cross into the training zone are ongoing, he added.