By John Balch
News-Leader staff
A local helicopter pilot was miraculously unhurt but his aircraft was completely destroyed Saturday evening while attempting a landing in the Highland area of Pike County, according to Pike County Sheriff Travis Hill.
Hill reported the pilot to be Anthony White, who operates A&E Aerial LLC, along with wife, Emily. The crash happened Aug. 30 on the White’s land off Fowler Road and involved White’s helicopter reportedly striking a power line and then a guide wire during a night landing.
“I don’t know how, but he walked away,” said Sheriff Hill, adding that part of the guide wire was inside the helicopter’s cockpit.
Monday, the damaged helicopter remained at the crash site at the base of a utility pole.
The Arkansas State Police and Pike County Sheriff’s Department responded to the crash scene and the accident was reported to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Hill said that possibly due to the Labor Day holiday, when county and state officials attempted to contact the FFA Saturday evening the phones were answered by an automated system. He noted that the only damage involved was to the aircraft and utility lines.
As of Friday morning at 10:00, the FAA had not listed any preliminary information about the crash on its website.
According to the aircraft’s identification number, the helicopter is a 2006 model built by the Robinson Helicopter Company and is registered with the FAA to A&E Aerial LLC with a Texarkana, Texas address.
A&E Aerial offers helicopter tours over Murfreesboro and Lake Greeson, as well as agricultural spraying and fertilizing and aerial hog hunts. The company has been in business since July 2023.
Monday morning, Emily White told the newspaper her husband was indeed uninjured and, at that time, FAA had yet to arrive on the scene. No other details were offered by the White family.
