A Canadian Home Rotors Safari kit helicopter took off from a home on Rivers Edge Road in Andover on the afternoon of September 27 with two full tanks of fuel. Moments later it crashed into the woods from about 60′ up and caught fire.

Fortunately the unidentified pilot, who was alone in the chopper, was able to get himself out of the wreckage and call 911. Andover police, fire, and EMS, along with state police, responded, putting out the fire before it could spread and transporting the pilot to Concord Hospital. His burns and other injuries were described as “non-life-threatening.”

The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the New Hampshire Division of Aeronautics all are investigating the incident. According to Andover Fire Chief Rene Lefebvre, quoted in the Union Leader, the helicopter was badly damaged and may be a total loss.

The Union Leader article concludes with one of Rene’s reassuring insights: “The pilot said it was a bad day, but we think it’s a good day,” Lefebvre said. “Any day you can walk away from a helicopter crash is a good day.”