A helicopter crashed into a parking lot in the Orting area Saturday morning, leaking fuel and leaving its lone pilot with moderate but non-life-threatening injuries after firefighters pulled the person free from the wreckage.
Central Pierce Fire & Rescue crews were dispatched at approximately 10:35 a.m. to the 13900 block of McCutcheon Road E for reports of a helicopter crash, according to Central Pierce Fire & Rescue
, which is based in Puyallup, Washington. Firefighters arriving at the scene found the aircraft down in a parking lot with just one person aboard, the pilot.
Crews extricated the pilot from the wreckage and paramedics treated the injuries on scene before the pilot was transported to a local hospital, the fire department said. Firefighters also worked to contain a fuel spill from the downed helicopter and secured the surrounding area so investigators could examine the crash site.
What May Have Caused the Hard Landing
Initial reports indicate the helicopter may have experienced engine failure that resulted in a hard landing in the parking lot, though the exact cause of the crash remains under investigation by the appropriate authorities. The aircraft was reportedly being used for tree harvesting operations at a nearby tree farm. The fire department said it has notified the FAA and NTSB.
A Known Hazard in the Tree Harvest Industry
Helicopter use in tree farming is common because the aircraft can move quickly and pull trees out without dragging heavy equipment through muddy fields, a dynamic documented in Oregon, where more than 500 licensed Christmas tree farms have relied on the method, according to statesmanjournal.com. That same reporting found that crashes during Christmas tree harvesting happen on average once every 1.5 years, and that the National Transportation Safety Board had logged 17 helicopter crashes in Oregon from 1989 onward, one of them fatal.
Past incidents cited in that reporting illustrate the risks tied to the work. A helicopter crashed near Sheridan, Oregon, in November 2015 while harvesting trees, though the pilot was uninjured, the outlet reported. A separate crash near Woodburn in November 2011 seriously injured a pilot after the aircraft's cable snagged on the ground, and a 2013 crash near Sheridan saw a helicopter pilot strike a truck that was being loaded with Christmas trees.
The scale of the work helps explain why mishaps occur. Vertical magazine reported that JL Aviation, a commercial operator involved in Oregon's harvest, runs four helicopters full time from November 1 to December 5 each year, with pilots moving loads of 12 to 14 trees weighing roughly 700 pounds apiece and averaging 120 turns per hour across the 34-day season, according to verticalmag.com.
No further details on the Orting pilot's condition or the specific cause of the crash have been released, and the investigation remains ongoing.
