ELGIN, Minn. (KTTC) — 10:15 P.M. UPDATE: The Wabasha County Sheriff’s Office has identified the deceased pilot in a crop-dusting helicopter crash near Elgin. Corey James Adcock, 40, from Victoria County Texas was flying the chopper. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Federal Aviation Agency and National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
Witnesses say the aircraft had been in the area most of the day, spraying crops, when the chopper blades got caught up in some power lines, causing the helicopter to crash and start on fire. According to Wabasha County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jim Warren it happened at 3:50 p.m.
According to Wabasha County authorities, accidents like this are incredibly rare.
“2nd one in 23 years, I’m just glad it hadn’t happened more often,” said Chief Deputy Jim Warren of Wabasha County.
Though his name has not yet been disclosed, police say the pilot is from Texas. Authorities are still investigating what caused the helicopter to crash.
The crash happened on 75th street, just south of Elgin.
“Some accidents you would think would happen more often because of the dangerousness of the job, but you know these pilots are very skilled, and these accidents are still gonna happen no matter how skilled of a pilot you’re gonna be,” said Warren.
In spite of the power lines being down, authorities say very few in the area lost power.
“We did some door checks, and they had power still, so that told us we still had two live lines on the ground. But we did get one report of an outage in Plainview and it was from an off-duty deputy,” said Warren.
One farmer in the area claimed he did not see the crash happen, but he heard it. By the time he got to the scene, the helicopter was already engulfed in flames.
Multiple agencies are working to figure out the cause.
“The NTSB and the FAA, they’re coming out,” said Warren.
