Crews on Thursday searched for a helicopter believed to have crashed in the swamps of southern Louisiana with at least one person onboard.
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Chief Criminal Deputy Sheriff Richard Hazelwood said the pilot of a state police helicopter spotted the wreck and directed authorities on the ground to the crash site.
The civil air patrol began a search for the overdue helicopter about 2 p.m. and then notified Hazelwood’s office about the missing aircraft around 7 p.m.
FAA records show the helicopter is registered to Gulf Coast Helicopters, Inc., a private helicopter rental company based in Pearland, Texas.
The Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office, which will notify the pilot’s family of the crash, had not released the person’s name by Thursday afternoon but identified him as a 29-year-old man.
Emergency responders and the Coast Guard are on the scene.
U.S. Air Force public affairs specialist Mary McHale tells The Advocate newspaper the helicopter was doing a pipeline survey when it disappeared.
According to a report by KLFY-TV, also in Lafayette, Ackal told the station that the crash happened about 4:15 p.m.in the waters between Charenton and Franklin. He says deputies, state Wildlife and Fisheries agents, and Coast Guard officials are working on a recovery.
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Initially, Sheriff Ackal told KATC that the helicopter involved was an Air Force helicopter, but he later confirmed that it was formerly owned by the Air Force before being sold to a civilian company. The helicopter was flying from Gonzales to Patterson when it went missing.
