Pilot dies in Wednesday helicopter crash

MORSE — A helicopter pilot died Wednesday after striking the guy wire of a radio tower and crashing in rural Acadia Parish, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Maxine Trahan said.

The pilot, who also owned the helicopter, was Hugh C. Kelley, 66, of Beaumont, Texas, Trahan said.

She said the Sheriff’s Office received an emergency call reporting the crash of the Bell 206 helicopter just before noon Wednesday.

The helicopter hit the ground about 250 yards from the radio tower in a rural area of fields and crawfish ponds, Trahan said.

“We do know from witnesses that he was flying low,” she said.

Trahan said family members of the pilot reported that he had been in the Lafayette area for routine maintenance on the aircraft and was returning to Beaumont.

Federal Aviation Administration officials are scheduled to arrive Thursday to investigate the incident, Trahan said.

The Wednesday crash near Morse comes after another fatal helicopter crash Friday in Intracoastal City.

The Bristow Group helicopter that was on a test flight crashed about a quarter of a mile from where it took off, according to information from the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Bristow Group, a Houston company that provides helicopter services to the offshore energy industry, identified the pilot of the Bell 407 helicopter as Carl Amos, of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Federal officials have not released a report on the possible cause of that accident.

Editor’s note: The story was changed on Thursday, Oct. 11, to say the helicopter struck a guy wire.