Hauled Helicopter Hits Utility Line

Sandy Hook was the site of a helicopter accident on Labor Day afternoon, but not the type of accident most might think.

In this case, the accident occurred when a military helicopter that had been displayed in Newtown’s Labor Day Parade was in transit on a tractor-trailer truck traveling eastward on Berkshire Road (Route 34) about 11:45 am, following the parade.

The olive-drab aircraft being hauled was similar to a Bell UH-1 Huey helicopter, like those which were widely used by the US Army in the Vietnam War.

Police said that trucker David Knapp, 27, of Danbury was driving a 1989 Peterbilt tractor-trailer truck carrying the helicopter on Berkshire Road, about 500 feet east of its intersection with Jordan Hill Road, when Knapp drove to the right in order to pull off of the roadway.

While doing so, the upper section of the helicopter struck some a cable television line that was suspended from utility poles, police said. The impact cut the cable, police said.

Cable television lines typically are the lines which are suspended the lowest to the ground.

There were no injuries. Police verbally warned Knapp regarding the securing of cargo.