SPRINGFIELD, OHIO: Cops have identified the unfortunate pilot who died in the helicopter crash on Saturday, July 29 in Springfield. As per Springfield Post of OSP, the man has been identified as Isaac Lee Santos of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

According to Ohio State Highway Patrol, only Santos was there on board the helicopter during the time of the crash.

Who was Isaac Lee Santos?

Santos was a 36-year-old experienced pilot who was involved in the fatal helicopter crash in Springfield, Ohio. 10 WBNS reported that the helicopter lost its control after hitting power lines and subsequently crashed in a cornfield. Troopers arrived at the area of East Possum Road near Interstate 70 after getting reports of a helicopter crash. As per WH10, they located the helicopter deep in the cornfield.

National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement to 10TV that the helicopter involved in the crash was a Bell 206 helicopter. At around 12.10 pm, the helicopter struck the power lines while Santos was undergoing an aerial application of the cornfield. Aerial application refers to spraying pesticides or other substances to the crop from the air through agriculturally used helicopters.

Santos was piloting the helicopter which belonged to Helicopter Applicators, Inc, as found out by NTSB. when the chopper crashed, it brought down with it all the power lines onto the eastbound and westbound lanes, halting the traffic. Santos was pronounced dead on the very spot.

Military crashes this year

This is, however, not the only helicopter accident that took place in the USA this year. Several military helicopter crashes took place which claimed the lives of 14 aviators. It ultimately led the US Army to ground aviation units for training at the end of April. In March and April, 12 soldiers lost their lives in helicopter crashes in Alaska and Kentucky, per AP.

At the end of April, two US Army helicopters carrying two people each collided near Healy, Alaska. While two of the occupants died at the spot, one died on the way to the hospital in Fairbanks. The fourth was undergoing treatment in the hospital. The helicopters involved in the crash were both AH-64 Apache helicopters.

In March, there was another helicopter crash where two US Army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters crashed during a routine nighttime training exercise about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, collided killing nine soldiers. In February, another crash in Alaska claimed two lives.