Helicopter crash in Buckley

I'm from the small town of Buckley, Washington. And while we usually don't focus on news stories here at JustSON, I had to share this.

I happened to be in Buckley yesterday visiting my parents and they live about a half mile from where the following incident took place. I had gone by the air strip just a bit after this happened.

Post on KOMONEWS.com

BUCKLEY, Wash. - One person was injured when an experimental helicopter crashed Saturday afternoon during a private air show. Medics and emergency personnel responded to the crash, at a small air strip near 252nd Street East and 112th Street East, at about 1:30 p.m. Russ McCallion, assistant fire chief for East Pierce Fire & Rescue, said the copter was hovering above the air strip, not far above the ground. He said the copter pilot thought a small plane was approaching and moved to avoid it. As he did so, the spinning rotor slammed into the ground and the helicopter flipped. Witnesses said a man jumped from the helicopter and waved, indicating he was not hurt. He refused treatment at the scene. A woman inside the helicopter was treated at the scene by medics from East Pierce Fire & Rescue, then taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

You can go to the site and click watch the video to see actual footage from the crash.

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Buckley, Washington received five inches of snow on March 29, 2009. Buckley sits at an elevation of 700 feet in the foothills of Mount Rainier. Snow isn't a common thing here, especially so much at the end of March. (Photo by Al Knopik, Buckley, Washington)

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