[NVG]

Wednesday, Jan. 06, 2010
FRESNO --
Three Fish and Game employees from Fresno were killed Tuesday when their helicopter clipped a power line and crashed in a mountainous area of eastern Madera County.

Law enforcement personnel survey the site where a California Fish and Game helicopter crashed killing a reported four people. The helicopter crashed, caught fire and burned after apparently clipping a power line near Road 235 in Madera County.


Killed were Clu Cotter, 48, an associate biologist, biologist supervisor Kevin O'Connor, 40, and Tom Stolberg, 31, a seasonal aide, according to the California Department of Fish and Game. The three were conducting an aerial deer survey.

The crash also killed the pilot, Dennis Donovan of Palm Springs, the Madera County Sheriff's Department reported.

Officials could not immediately say why the helicopter, a Bell 206 owned and operated by Landells Aviation of Desert Hot Springs, hit the power line near Redinger Lake. An employee answering at the company’s office said no one was available to comment.

Skies near the crash scene were partly cloudy but the area is well above the fog line in the San Joaquin Valley. The accident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration.

The helicopter crashed at the base of a large tree and was completely destroyed by fire from burning fuel. Southern California Edison workers blocked roads near the crash because a power line apparently knocked down by the helicopter lay across the pavement.

The crash did not cause any major power outages, a company spokesman said. Officials found two victims near the helicopter within 45 minutes. The other two were found farther away later in the afternoon.

Fish and Game routinely uses helicopter surveys to track trends in the deer population, gathering information that can be used to make changes in the hunting season, said Doug Bowman, a retired wildlife habit supervisor for the department.

Bowman said the agency turned to helicopters for deer surveys in the 1980s because they provided a better vantage point than walking or driving. He didn’t like the change.

“I didn’t really feel comfortable, but I did it because it was my job,” said Bowman, a Fish and Game employee for 37 years. “It gets scary. You’re flying really low to the ground.”