LV helicopter crash sends 2 to hospital with minor injuries

ALLENTOWN (AP) — Authorities say a helicopter crashed near an eastern Pennsylvania airport shortly after takeoff, sending two people to a hospital, but their injuries were reported as minor.

A Lehigh Valley International Airport spokesman said the Schweizer 269C may have been a training helicopter but its destination was unclear before the 2:45 p.m. crash into a building just outside the airport.

Kevin Harwick, assistant chief of Han-Le-Co Fire Company, said the pilot and passenger were taken to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill with minor injuries.

Some damage was reported to the Schaefer Industrial Ceramics building in an industrial park, but a witness told LehighValleyLive at the scene that the business was closed and no one was inside.

The Federal Aviation Administration and state police were to investigate.