A Cessna pilot who died in a crash with a Pa. State Police helicopter was an emergency room doctor
Penn State Health doctor Paul Sokoloski died when his Cessna 150 and a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter collided.
Authorities have identified the pilot of a small plane who died Wednesday after colliding with a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter.
Paul Sokoloski, 57, of Hershey, died in the crash, the Cumberland County Coroner’s Office said Thursday morning.
Sokoloski was an emergency room doctor at Penn State Health, according to the health system, which described him in an emailed statement as a valued member of its team.
“We are focused on supporting Dr. Sokoloski’s loved ones and the members of our care teams who worked alongside him and are grieving his passing,” the statement said.
Sokoloski worked as an emergency physician since 1999, according to his LinkedIn profile. Since 2022, he had worked at three Penn State Health hospitals around Harrisburg and Lancaster. From 2017 through 2021, he was an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine.
The crash happened at Carlisle Airport, a small public-use airport about a half-hour southwest of Harrisburg.
Pennsylvania State Police were conducting a training exercise in a helicopter when it was struck by the Cessna 150 airplane piloted by Sokoloski, state police said Thursday.
“The Cessna 150 was attempting to land when, for an unknown reason, it veered off the north side of the runway and collided with the rear of the PSP helicopter, which was hovering in mid-air,” state police said in a statement.
Sokoloski was the only person in the plane, state police said.
Aaron McCarter, aviation accident investigator with the NTSB, confirmed at a Thursday afternoon briefing that a video clip circulating on social media did capture the collision. The video shows the helicopter hovering above a grassy area when the Cessna veers from the runway path and sheers off the top main rotor blade and the tail blades of the helicopter. The Cessna immediately breaks apart after contact.
A witness saw the Cessna pilot, who was a certified flight instructor, earlier performing maintenance on his plane, McCarter said. The pilot earlier on Wednesday then flew south before returning to Carlisle Airport in the evening.
McCarter said pilots who fly at small airports that do not have control towers, such as Carlisle, use a designated radio frequency known as CTAF, or common traffic advisory frequency.
The pilot of the Cessna, who was a certified flight instructor, “was made aware” of the helicopter’s activity at the airport, McCarter said.
On Friday, crews will transport the wreckage of the plane and the helicopter to a secure hangar in Clayton, Del., where investigators will work to find out “what brought those two vehicles together in such a violent way,” McCarter said.
Two state police troopers in the helicopter, Cpl. Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills, were airlifted to Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, police said.
Corman has since been released, and Mills remained hospitalized in stable condition, police said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday night called the injured state police troopers “heroes” and expressed his sympathy to their families.
“They are people who are absolutely essential to the operations of the Pennsylvania State Police, and we are so grateful they are going to be OK,” Shapiro said.
State police, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident, police said.
Staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article.
