Pilot identified in fatal Croydon, New Hampshire helicopter crash

A veteran pilot is dead following a helicopter crash in New Hampshire late Sunday night, local officials said.

The helicopter crashed about 10:30 p.m. in a swampy area of Sullivan County, Croydon Fire Department Chief Jason Rook told USA TODAY.

The aircraft, identified as a Bell 407 helicopter by a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson, went down in the town of Croydon, about 45 miles northwest of the state's capital city of Concord.

A preliminary investigation revealed the helicopter took off from a private landing zone in Pembroke, New Hampshire about 7:40 p.m. and headed northeast for less than one mile before it disappeared from radar, Rook said.

Wreckage found at 2 a.m.

With assistance from New Hampshire Fish and Game, Rook said, crews searched the area where the aircraft was last spotted and found its wreckage in a wooded area about 2 a.m.

The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

An FAA spokesperson said the pilot was the only person on board the aircraft when it crashed and no one on the ground was injured.

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Officials: 73-year-old pilot killed in crash

In a statement obtained by USA TODAY Monday, New Hampshire Fish and Game identified the pilot as 73-year-old Carl Svenson, from Loudon, New Hampshire.

The agency said Svenson was employed by JBI Helicopter Services and was headed to Rhode Island for work when the aircraft crashed, the outlet reported.

"Mr. Svenson had been a pilot for approximately 50 years and started working for JBI Helicopter Services in the 1980s," the agency wrote in the statement.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.