STONY RIDGE, Ohio — Two men doing work for FirstEnergy were killed Monday when their helicopter crashed into a field near State Rt. 163 and Pemberville Road in Troy Township.
The helicopter crashed about 11:40 a.m. in a large, harvested, snow-covered field east of Pemberville Road, between Route 163 and Recker Road, Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn said on scene.
WATCH: Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn on helicopter crash
Doug Calafella, a spokesman for FirstEnergy, said the crash victims were employees of a contractor for the utility. He said they were inspecting high-voltage transmission lines.
The company that employed the men were in the process of notifying family members, he added.
Sheriff Wasylyshyn said there was no obvious cause of the crash: no signs of fire or flames, and no indication the aircraft struck any utility lines. The crash was reported by a person in a nearby house who was looking out a window “and just saw the helicopter come down out of the sky and hit the ground,” he said.
The sheriff said his office was told by the National Transportation Safety Board that investigators from the agency will be on the scene on Tuesday, and the Federal Aviation Administration also had been notified.
"We will secure the scene. We are taking initial measurements. The NTSB will haul off the helicopter and do their dissecting to try to determine the cause," he said.
Tony Molinaro, an FAA spokesman, said in an email the helicopter was an MD-369 and the agency is sending investigators to the scene.
NTSB spokesman Christopher O'Neil said Monday afternoon an investigator was en route to the crash scene.
Check back later for more details.
First Published January 15, 2018, 5:13 p.m.
