Men walk away from helicopter crash near Camas

Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Swenson gets a close look at a helicopter that crashed Monday with two people aboard at Grove Field Airport near Camas. Both occupants walked away with minor injuries. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

CAMAS — A flight instructor and his student pilot were injured Monday morning when their helicopter crashed at Grove Field Airport.

The men walked away from the crash. They were taken to Southwest Washington Medical Center for treatment, according to Clark County Sheriff’s deputies, who did not disclose the men’s names.

The instructor suffered a gash on his forehead. Apart from that, deputies said it appeared the men had no broken bones, just minor scrapes.

The accident was reported at 11:28 a.m. According to a witness who made the call, it appeared the two had taken off from the airport when the helicopter’s power cut out at an altitude of 20 to 30 feet.

The owner of the helicopter is David Spencer of Portland, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. He is a commercially licensed student pilot. A Southwest Washington Medical Center spokesman said a David Spencer was being treated there Monday afternoon and would be released later in the day.

Ken Sampson, who works at the Georgia-Pacific paper mill in Camas, rushed to the scene when he heard about the crash. He said that his friend, David, was the student pilot. Sampson said his friend is in his late 30s or early 40s and that he’s a Portland electrician who put a lot of time and money into refurbishing his helicopter, which he purchased earlier this year.

The helicopter, a 1965 B-2B Brantly, was badly damaged, its body crumpled but the cab mostly intact. The small two-seater survived two previous accidents, one in 1965 and another in 2005, according to public records. Both were non-injury accidents.

The airport was closed for much of the day pending an investigation by federal authorities. The airport, which is owned by the Port of Camas-Washougal, averaged 27 takeoffs and landings per day in 2007. It is located three miles north of Camas.

Grove Field’s last accident was three years ago when the wind flipped a single-engine plane. The last fatality at the airport was in the 1960s, according to port officials.

Isolde Raftery: 360-735-4546 or isolde.raftery@columbian.com.