Bystanders help remove pilot from burning helicopter after crash in New Hampshire

DANBURY, N.H. (AP) — People who heard a helicopter crash rushed to the site to help remove the pilot from the burning aircraft in a wooded area in central New Hampshire, police said Sunday.

The Hughes TH-55 helicopter with only the pilot aboard went down Saturday afternoon bout 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of the state capital, Concord, and caused a fire that was spreading to the woods before the arrival of firefighters, police said. The pilot was transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center with “serious but non life-threatening injuries,” police said.

A National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson said the helicopter will be moved to an offsite facility for further examination as part of its investigation. The pilot was not identified.

The two-seater TH-55 Osage was originally used by the military as a training helicopter, taking flight for the first time in 1956, but many of them have since found their way into civilian use.