MISSOULA — The National Transportation Safety Board has released the name of a Bozeman pilot who died in a helicopter crash near Thompson Falls over the weekend.
The NTSB says Summit Air Ambulance pilot Todd Hanawalt and two passengers were surveying power lines for a company on Saturday afternoon when the helicopter crashed.
One of the passengers walked away from the crash with minor injuries while the other was flown to a hospital in Missoula and then to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The names of the passengers haven’t been released.
Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummell says it’s amazing anyone survived the crash.
One of the passengers told the NTSB the helicopter suddenly went out of control and crashed. NTSB investigator Tom Little says the cause of the crash it not known.