Helicopter crashes near fairgrounds

PALMER — At 2:36 p.m. on Sunday, an Enstrom F-28f helicopter on a sightseeing flight from the Alaska State Fairgrounds as part of the Great Alaska Aviation Gathering crashed in a nearby field. Alaska State Troopers responded to a reported helicopter crash near Outer Springer Loop and Kaye Marie Lane in Palmer.

“The pilot successfully executed an emergency landing in an empty field, but the helicopter suffered significant damage on landing,” reads the AST dispatch.

Neither the pilot nor the two passengers reported injuries, but were later taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center out of caution. Thousands gathered over the weekend at the Alaska State Fairgrounds and Palmer ‘Bud’ Woods Municipal Airport for the gathering put on by the Alaska Airmen’s Association. The helicopter that crashed was operated by Talaheim Air Service out of Willow.

According to the FAA Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing, “Aircraft experienced an issue and had to auto-rotate to the ground and on impact one of the skids became stuck in the ground and rolled on it’s nose with the orator cutting the tail off.”