Delco Helicopter Crash Preliminary Report Released

DREXEL HILL, PA — The National Transportation Safety Board Monday issued a preliminary report on the Jan. 11 helicopter crash in Delaware County.

The report featured testimony by the in-flight medic as well as witnesses to the incident that occurred

According to the report, the helicopter was about 10 minutes away from landing at the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania after departing from Chambersburg with a 2-month-old patient.

That's when the medic, in-flight nurse, and 52-year-old veteran pilot Danial Moore heard a loud bang.

The medic told investigators the helicopter banked hard right and began rolling.

The report states the medic and nurse were subsequently pinned to the helicopter's ceiling.

A witness familiar with aviation and helicopters told the NTSB that the helicopter's sound was unfamiliar to him and that the aircraft was flying much lower than other helicopters that fly in the area.

The report states the medic and nurse secured themselves, as well as the young patient, the aircraft was leveled and all braced for impact.

Then at about 12:46 p.m. the helicopter came down in the yard of Drexel Hill United Methodist Church at Burmont Road and Bloomfield Avenue.

Miraculously, Moore was the only person on board to suffer serious injury. Fox 29 reports he suffered broken ribs, broken vertebrae, and a cracked sternum.

Moore also managed to bring the aircraft down without causing property damage.

The findings of the crash may take as long as a year to be released.