FRANKLIN, Ind.–A helicopter crashed near the Franklin Flying Field on Sunday, just before 6 p.m. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says the Bell 47 aircraft was completely destroyed in the accident. According to witnesses, the pilot, Richard Money, 71, of Columbus, walked away from the wreckage with visible injuries. Friends transported Money to Johnson Memorial Health.
Sheriff Doug Cox tells Local News Digital that authorities with the Federal Aviation Administration have been contacted to begin their investigation into the incident. Money and a friend who saw the crash from the ground, both stated that the craft appeared to lose power before it impacted in a bean field.
It is the second helicopter to go down in central Indiana this month. Nine days earlier, the pilot was killed when his Bell 47 crashed in Shelby County.
(Edit: Details have been changed reflecting information received in a later report from the sheriff’s department.)