Kentucky Trooper, Pilot Injured in Helicopter Crash

July 29, 2013
A pilot and a Kentucky State Police trooper hunting for illegal marijuana patches were hurt Monday morning when the helicopter they were in crashed in Breathitt County.

A pilot and a Kentucky State Police trooper hunting for illegal marijuana patches were hurt Monday morning when the helicopter they were in crashed in Breathitt County, according to authorities.

State police did not immediately release the names of the two victims and provided little detail about the crash, which happened just before 11 a.m. in the Evanston community.

Trooper Shaun Little, a state police spokesman, said he did not have information about the extent of the injuries.

The state police officer and a pilot from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration were aboard a DEA helicopter looking for marijuana when the crash occurred, according to Frank Rapier, director of the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which helps fund and coordinate drug investigations in parts of four states.

A witness told WYMT-TV in Hazard that the tail of the helicopter clipped a utility line, causing it to crash.

Copyright 2013 - Lexington Herald-Leader

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

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