One Presumed Dead In Franklin County Helicopter Crash
Two Survivors Pulled From Water
POSTED: 5:19 p.m. EST July 10, 2002
UPDATED: 12:58 p.m. EST July 11, 2002
BROOKVILLE, Ind. -- Two people were rescued and one other person was presumed dead after a helicopter crashed and sank in Brookville Reservoir Wednesday afternoon, state police said.
Co-pilot Joseph Rukazina, 46, of Hinsdale, Ill., is at University Hospital in Cincinnati in fair condition. Pilot Steve Myler, 36, of Robbinsville, N.C., is at Fayette Memorial in Connersville, but his condition wasn't available, authorities said.
Mechanic Michael Jarski, 26, of Woodridge, Ill., is missing.
The search was called off at dusk Wednesday because of hazard to the divers.
The helicopter, a 1963 Sikorsky model S58ET registered to
Midwest Truxton International in Burr Ridge, Ill., went down in the
lake about 20 miles south of Richmond about 4 p.m., Indiana State Police Cpl. Jim Carney said.
State Trooper Mike Ooley, an aircraft crash investigator for the
Indiana State Police, said the helicopter was resting in about 40
feet of water.
"We think it struck power lines. Power went out in the area
about 4 p.m.," he said.
Co-pilot Joseph Rukazina, 46, of Hinsdale, Ill., is at University Hospital in Cincinnati in fair condition. Pilot Steve Myler, 36, of Robbinsville, N.C., is at Fayette Memorial in Connersville, but his condition wasn't available, authorities said.
Mechanic Michael Jarski, 26, of Woodridge, Ill., is missing.
The search was called off at dusk Wednesday because of hazard to the divers.
The helicopter, a 1963 Sikorsky model S58ET registered to
Midwest Truxton International in Burr Ridge, Ill., went down in the
lake about 20 miles south of Richmond about 4 p.m., Indiana State Police Cpl. Jim Carney said.
State Trooper Mike Ooley, an aircraft crash investigator for the
Indiana State Police, said the helicopter was resting in about 40
feet of water.
"We think it struck power lines. Power went out in the area
about 4 p.m.," he said.
Copyright 2002 by TheIndyChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
