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| The helicopter that crashed and burned killing Gideon William Carmichael, 25, of Haskell, Texas |
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| The helicopter that crashed and burned killing Gideon William Carmichael, 25, of Haskell, Texas |
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| Gideon William Carmichael, 25, of Haskell, Texas, dead hunting pigs |
UPDATE: Officials release name of helicopter pilot
Tuesday, November 21st 2017, 1:10 am EST
By Samantha Forester, Digital Reporter
DPS, Wichita County Sheriff's Office and Electra Police are on the scene of a helicopter crash in Electra. (Source: KAUZ)
DPS, Wichita County Sheriff's Office and Electra Police are on the scene of a helicopter crash in Electra. (Source: KAUZ)
DPS, Wichita County Sheriff's Office and Electra Police are on the scene of a helicopter crash in Electra. (Source: KAUZ)
DPS, Wichita County Sheriff's Office and Electra Police are on the scene of a helicopter crash in Electra. (Source: KAUZ)
ELECTRA, TX (KAUZ) - DPS Trooper Dan Buesing confirmed to Newschannel 6 the pilot, who died, following a helicopter crash in Electra as Gideon William Carmichael, 25, of Haskell.
Carmichael was the only person in the Robinson R22 Beta helicopter. The aircraft went down around 3:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon at Business 287 and Jennings Road.
DPS Troopers said Gideon Carmichael worked for Carmichael Helicopter Service out of Haskell.
On his Facebook page, it says he was the owner of the business that does everything from cattle work, predator control, game surveys and even aerial video and photography. Other media outlets are reporting that Gideon helped Hurricane Harvey victims.
Trooper Buesing said Carmichael was working when the crash happened.
“Kind of regular ranch-type operations,” said Buesing. “A lot of time in these areas where there's some rough terrains pretty normal thing for helicopters to be involved in helping out with some of the livestock.”
Trooper Buesing said Carmichael was herding cattle before his helicopter hit some power lines, causing him to crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Law enforcement said a witness told them once the helicopter hit the ground, a fire sparked.
“There was about a three-acre grass fire burning," said Wichita County Sheriff David Duke. "When we got to the scene, a helicopter was below the power lines."
Oncor was on the scene for most of the night due to the two power lines that were knocked down.Carmichael's body has been sent to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for an autopsy.
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ELECTRA, TEXAS - DPS officials have released the name of the victim in the helicopter crash, Gideon William Carmichael of Carmichael Helicopters out of Haskell.
For three witnesses, Monday afternoon started just like any other for them, until they witnessed a car crash.
Devin Howell was one of the witnesses, he told us, "We were just in there hunting and we were sitting at camp and wondering why this guy was, what he was doing and he was running cattle and I guess trying to get them to their pin and just got sideways and went into the power line."
He said he was just doing his job and often took flight over the Electra area.
Texas Department of Public Safety, Sgt. Dan Buesing said, "He was working here for a local person working some cattle, regular ranch type operations. A lot of times, in these areas where there some rough terrain, a helicopter is a pretty normal thing for helicopters to be involved in helping out some of the livestock."
Witnesses, Twyla and Bailey Tarter continued to say, "When he was moving the cattle, I mean it's windy right now anyway and I guess he wasn't paying attention or something and his back tail-spun into the wire and he got caught and went nose down. He tried to get it to where he could untangle himself but he made another wrong move and then it just tipped over."
They added that it all happened so quickly.
Wichita County Sheriff, David Duke said, "Its unfortunate for the family. Our hearts go out to them. It was, from what I understand a younger male pilot so it's sad to see something like this happen."
Witnesses also told us that if they were not there at the time of the accident, no one would've found Carmicheal.
Sgt. Dan Buesing said the area around Jennings road will be closed until the Federal Aviation Administration is able to do a full investigation, they are coming from the Dallas/ Fort Worth area and it may be tomorrow morning before they can get started.
According to his website, Carmichael had been flying since he was 18-year-old.
As the sole owner and operator of Carmichael Helicopter Service, he had been in business as a commercial helicopter pilot for seven years.
His company did business in cattle work, game surveying and depredation.
Carmichael was in a Robinson R22 Beta II, which seats two, including a pilot. He was the only one in the copter when it crashed.
He was raised his entire life on a working cattle ranch, where he still continued to help farm and ranch when he wasn't flying and he was also an avid hunter since childhood.
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Date: 20-NOV-2017
Time: 15:00
Type:
Robinson R22 Beta
Owner/operator: Private
Registration: N4179M
C/n / msn: 4413
Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities: 0
Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: Wichita County, Electra, TX -
United States of America Phase: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature: Agricultural
Departure airport:
Destination airport:
Narrative:
The aircraft clipped powerlines and impacted open field terrain during an aerial livestock mustering flight in Wichita County, southeast Electra, Texas. The helicopter was partially consumed by the post-impact fire and the sole pilot onboard was fatally injured.
Sources:
http://www.newschannel6now.com/story/36889910/breaking-crews-responding-to-helicopter-crash-in-electra
http://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/news/main-news/haskell-pilot-dies-in-helicopter-crash/861153689
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Jennings+Rd+%26+E+Railroad+Ave,+Electra,+TX+76360/@34.0234674,-98.9082091,19z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x865348bbfbac79e9:0xe52af1dc4e165aa0?hl=en-us
http://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/NNum_results.aspx?NNumbertxt=4179M