A pilot was killed in a helicopter crash on the Bonnet Carre Spillway Bridge on Tuesday afternoon and footage of the aftermath has begun circulating online.
The pilot was identified as Joshua Hawley by St. Charles Parish Coroner and the crash occurred at around 12:30 p.m. on the I-10 on December 14.
Hawley worked as a pilot, flight instructor and was the fleet and technology manager for the Five-S Group, a construction company out of Baton Rouge. He was the only person on board and was a father of three children, all under the ages of 8.
KHOU 11 reported that the pilot was on his way to Lakefront Airport to pick up passengers. Eastbound traffic was shut down for several hours and power was lost to several thousand customers in the Kenner and Metairie area.
Aftermath footage uploaded to the WWLTV Youtube page shows cars driving on the opposite side of the Bonnet Carre Spillway Bridge. Smoke and fire can be seen on the other side as cars and trucks slowly pass by the helicopter wreckage.
KHOU 11 also reported there was significant fog on Tuesday around the time of the crash. Pilot Ian Pereira spoke to them and indicated how difficult it is for pilots to fly during these sorts of weather conditions.
He said: "When you start getting into those conditions and you can't see, your mind plays tricks on you when you're in a plane or helicopter.
"You start getting spatially disoriented and so you really have to lean in and trust the instruments, which can be a hard thing to do when you're brain is telling you something else."
A National Transportation Safety Board team is in Louisiana and investigating the crash. The helicopter wreckage has also been removed and taken to an undisclosed location.
According to WBRZ-TV, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome released a statement on Wednesday saying Hawley was a former East Baton Rouge Emergency Medical Services employee and offering her condolences.
The statement read: "This afternoon we learned of the tragic death of a former Emergency Medical Services employee, Joshua Hawley, in Tuesday's helicopter crash on the Bonne Carre Spillway Bridge.
"Hawley served our EMS Department for four years, and was a valuable member of our City-Parish team.
"Please join me in keeping his family, friends and colleagues lifted in prayer as they navigate this loss. His memory will remain in the hearts of our residents for many years to come."
According to a Fox 8 report, the Bonnet Carre Spillway will be closed in both directions for a period of time on Sunday so that crews can make the needed repairs to the damaged infrastructure.
Initially, the repairs were scheduled to take place on Wednesday but had to be postponed after the crash. Crews worked to clear the wreckage on Tuesday night to ensure that the road was safe, and to repair the damaged power lines that had cut electricity to customers in the area.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more
