2 people dead after helicopter crashes into barge and catches fire near Alton

By Dana Rieck, Nassim Benchaabane, Bryce Gray

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    ST. CHARLES (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) — Two people died Thursday morning after a helicopter struck power lines, crashed into a barge and caught fire near Alton.

The crash happened just after 11 a.m. about a mile and a half south of the Lewis and Clark Bridge, said Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman Cpl. Dallas Thompson.

There were two people in the helicopter and they both died in the crash, Thompson said. They were part of a crew working on power lines that cross the river.

No one was on the barge when the helicopter crashed.

Ameren confirmed a contractor and subcontractor were there repairing and replacing tower lighting and markers balls. The company said the crash created no power outages and that it would cooperate with investigators.

“We are saddened about today’s tragic incident,” the company said in a statement. “Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the victims’ families and colleagues.”

Several agencies responded, including at least four fire departments, St. Charles County police, the U.S. Coast Guard and Missouri Highway Patrol.

Thompson said the U.S. Coast Guard assisted the highway patrol in its initial response to the crash and that the Federal Aviation Administration will handle the crash investigation.

Thompson said authorities did not immediately know what caused the helicopter to hit the power line.

Illinois State Police said the Lewis and Clark bridge coming into Illinois will temporarily be closed due to the incident.

The Mississippi River in that area was also closed to boat traffic traveling both directions, Thompson said.

Adam Briggs, 51, of Edwardsville told the Post-Dispatch he was in the area fishing near the National Great Rivers Museum on the Illinois side and saw the helicopter crash.

He said he had been watching the small white helicopter work on the power lines, and at one point the helicopter carried two men suspended by ropes to the electrical tower.

Then, the helicopter began making trips back and forth with supplies as the crews worked.

Right before the crash, the helicopter was carrying a marker ball that’s put on the power lines for visibility. The ball was suspended from the helicopter by a rope, Briggs said.

“I’m thinking whatever you do, please don’t hit that wire,” he said. “Then I looked down for a second and I heard it.”

Briggs heard a loud “boom” that echoed off the walls of the damn. He looked up and said he saw smoke billowing from the helicopter as it fell.

It hit the barge and exploded, Briggs said. The initial explosion was followed by five or six other explosions.

Briggs and another fisherman called 911, and he said it didn’t take first responders long to get there.

“We were standing there in disbelief,” he said. “There was nothing anybody could do.”

About 20 minutes later a tugboat with a fire hose got there and started dousing flames.

An employee who was working in the area at the time of the crash also said crews had been out in the area recently working on the powerlines that run from a tower on the east side of the river to a tower on the west side. The employee said the helicopter was being used Wednesday to get workers to the top of the tower to work on the installation.

On Thursday, the employee said when the helicopter crashed, several workers in the area ran for cover because they were worried there might be an explosion because of chemicals on the barge.

“The guys came running in here saying it was going to explode,” the employee said. “I walked out. That’s when I saw it burning.”

The employee said emergency responders could only get to the crash site via boat.

By 1 p.m., smoke from the fire was no longer visible, and it appeared a power line was down in the river.

Traffic in the area was also blocked off as emergency crews responded but was reopened early Thursday afternoon.

This is at least the second helicopter crash this year in the region.

In April, three crew members in an Arch medical helicopter were injured when it crashed on takeoff during a training exercise in Hartford, Illinois.

The helicopter went down in a vacant lot next to the fire house and police station.

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