Shocking new video captured the instant a small airplane slammed into a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter at Carlisle Regional Airport, killing the airplane pilot and injuring two state troopers.
The collision scattered wreckage across the airport in what officials described as a “very violent crash.”
As The New York Post reported, the footage shows the police helicopter hovering just above the ground Wednesday evening as the Cessna 150 approaches the area.
Within seconds, the airplane suddenly veers toward the helicopter and smashes into it, sending pieces of both aircraft flying across the runway.
The pilot of the Cessna was identified as 57-year-old Paul Sokoloski, an emergency room doctor from Hershey, Pennsylvania.
He was pronounced dead at the scene after the aircraft careened through the helicopter rotors and broke apart during the devastating impact.
Two Pennsylvania State Police troopers were inside the helicopter when it was struck from behind.
Despite the force of the collision and the destruction visible in the video, both troopers escaped with injuries that authorities described as minor.
The state police crew had been conducting a “hover taxi” maneuver near a runway shortly before 7 p.m. when the crash occurred.
The routine operation became a nightmare in moments as the Cessna moved unexpectedly toward the hovering helicopter.
Acting Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens said the airplane made a sudden movement shortly before impact.
“As that Cessna came down along that runway, for an unknown reason, it veered hard to the right at the last moment,” Bivens said.
The helicopter crew apparently had no meaningful opportunity to react because the airplane approached from behind.
“It struck the helicopter from the rear. The pilots would not have been able to even see that airplane approaching them.”
Bivens said the Cessna initially struck the rear tail rotor of the police helicopter. The airplane then moved into the helicopter’s main rotor, producing the violent collision seen in the alarming airport surveillance footage.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators were dispatched to determine why the Cessna abruptly changed course despite both crews reportedly knowing another aircraft was nearby.
Authorities are examining radio communications, aircraft wreckage, flight paths, and every available recording from the airport.
Aaron McCarter, the National Transportation Safety Board investigator in charge, said the aircraft crews had communicated over the radio before the crash.
That detail raises urgent questions about why the Cessna still flew directly into the rear section of the police helicopter.
“The Cessna came in, straight and level, suddenly increased its pitch, severe nose up, did a left turn, leveled off again, and then flew into the back of the helicopter,” McCarter said while describing the airplane’s final movements.
Investigators have not publicly identified a mechanical failure, medical emergency, or other cause that might explain the abrupt maneuver.
“Right now we don’t know the details of why the pilot was flying… in that manner, but we are going to find out.”
Witness Lloyd Slusser said the noise from the impact has remained fixed in his memory. For those near the airport, the violent sound and exploding debris made clear that this was no routine runway mishap.
“What is sticking in my mind, it was the crash, the loud sounds more than anything, just because it was so loud, it was kind of shocking.” The newly released footage gives the public a grim view of the same terrifying scene witnesses experienced in real time.
CCTV footage captures the moment a small plane crashes into a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter.
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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro acknowledged that the outcome could have been even more catastrophic for the state police crew.
In a statement, Shapiro said, “Tonight could have been much worse for our state police family. Thank God that it wasn’t.”
The investigation now centers on the Cessna’s unexplained final turn and whether mechanical, medical, or operational factors caused it.
Federal investigators will reconstruct the aircraft, review radio traffic, and study the pilot’s actions before issuing findings about how an ordinary airport operation turned deadly.
