Helicopter Crash South of La Junta

Helicopter Crash Site

At about 12:00 pm, Tuesday, May 7, the Otero County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call reporting a downed helicopter South of La Junta, Colorado.

Units from the Sheriffs’ Office, the La Junta Rural Fire Department, and the Colorado State Patrol responded to the scene which was about three miles South of County Road AA and County Road 33 on private property.  

On scene, rescue workers removed three slightly injured victims to ambulances, and the victims were transported to the Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center in La Junta, Colorado.   

The helicopter is a 1982 Bell helicopter leased to SAM surveying, and was doing survey work for a new pipeline running through Otero County.  The pilot reported a possible problem with the tail rotor forcing the helicopter to spin into the ground.  The helicopter was heavily damaged in the crash.