national

Pilot Killed and Two Troopers Injured in Collision at Pennsylvania Airport

Published

Just the facts

On August 19, 2026, a Cessna 150 collided with a Bell 407 helicopter hovering near a runway at Carlisle Airport, located 120 miles west of Philadelphia. The pilot and sole occupant of the Cessna, 57-year-old emergency medicine physician Paul Sokoloski, died at the scene from the impact. Two state police aviation unit troopers aboard the helicopter, Corporal Bryce Korman and Trooper Jason Mills, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were treated at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the crash investigation with support from the Federal Aviation Administration to determine why the airplane veered into the helicopter.

Why this is news

A small airplane collided with a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter during a training exercise at Carlisle Airport in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.

Sources

This summary is compiled strictly from the original reporting below.

← All stories · Live timeline