“When he was cranking it up, he was in the mud, it turned on its side and caught fire,” eyewitness Roy Williams said. “He probably would have died, but the other dude pulled him out.” Williams said he saw the horrific turn of events unfold from about a block away, at a convenience store on State Highway 95.
Star Flight transported William Aldridge, 73, of Austin to the Brooke Army Medical Center burn unit in San Antonio with second- and third-degree burns to his face and chest, a Department of Public Safety spokeswoman said. The pilot, 66-year-old Raymond Mitchell, refused treatment at the scene. Witnesses said he had driven himself to San Antonio, but by late afternoon, officials would not confirm Mitchell’s whereabouts.
The accident happened one block east of SH 95, where Elm Street dead ends into a vacant field. Vanessa Campos and her three children were inside their wood-frame house about 150 feet from the R-22 Robinson helicopter when it caught fire.
“I heard a big explosion. And I heard it again. My window was right next to where it happened,” said Ms. Campos. “There was this guy laying out. He wasn’t moving at all and I was really scared for him.” Ms. Campos said she called 911.
Two men from the Bartlett Volunteer Fire Department arrived on the scene only a few minutes after receiving Ms. Campos’ call.
“The aircraft was still on fire, with heavy smoke,” said Capt. Rob Wilson, describing the scene when the fire truck arrived. “We directed our attention to extinguishing the fire.”
Wilson said when they arrived the children and Ms. Campos had already left the house. Recent rains had saturated the ground, Wilson said, which help prevent the fire from spreading. The family was in no immediate danger.
Wilson said in his eight years with the volunteer fire department, this was the first time anything like this had happened in Bartlett, a small community of 1,600, about 20 miles south of Temple.
Over at the Bartlett Drive-In Grocery, store manager Sonny Klepac said the pilot, Mitchell, often stopped by with a warm handshake. Mitchell was an experienced pilot, Klepac said, and was living part-time in a RV at a lot he purchased near the accident site. For taking off and landing, Mitchell often used the same empty lot where the Monday accident happened. Klepac said Mitchell was in the banking and real estate business and also owned a home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
DPS Trooper Robbie Barrera said the Federal Aviation Administration would conduct an investigation. She said Aldridge was in critical condition late Monday afternoon.
According to the company’s Web site, the Robinson Helicopter Company of Torrance, California produces more helicopters than all other North American manufacturers combined. The R-22 “has the lowest acquisition and operating costs of any production helicopter.” A new, standard unit costs about $230,000.
