Bernardsville Man Survives Helicopter Crash that Kills 2 Others

A Bernardsville man survived a helicopter crash that killed the other two occupants Tuesday night near Mount Pocono in Pennsylvania.

The National Transportation Safety Board remained on the scene Wednesday night investigating the circumstances of the crash.

Bernardsville resident Stephen Barral was the backseat passenger in the helicopter that crashed on Pennsylvania state game land property in Coolbaugh Township at approximately 8 p.m. Tuesday night.

Barral was transferred to Pocono Medical Center and then Lehigh Valley Hospital, according to Monroe County Corner Bob Allen.

The plane's pilot, William Ellsworth, 52, of Califon, and front-seat passenger Tighe Sullivan, 51, of Darien, Conn., were both pronounced dead at the scene by Allen at 4:20 a.m. Wednesday. Sullivan was the husband of former Darien Selectwoman Callie Sullivan, according to Darien Patch.

Allen said the helicopter was returning from a golf outing and was heading to New York. He also said the aircraft was located by Sgt. Scott Dunlap of the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

According to the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department, authorities were notified the helicopter was missing at 10 p.m. Tuesday by a phone call from a New Jersey Medevac helicopter service saying that contact had been lost with the pilot.

Police Sgt. Charles LaRue said that night was "extremely foggy" in the mountains, and the helicopter was apparently trying to reach the Pocono Mountains Municipal Airport on Mount Pocono to land.

The crash site was in a mountainous area about 1 mile from the airport, according to the police report. The national safety board had been called in from Virginia, and was out investigating the crash site as of Wednesday evening, LaRue said shortly before 8 p.m.

Authorities initially were unable to locate the crashed helicopter, but the U.S. Air Force joined the search, and was able to locate the men through tracking their activated cell phones, LaRue said.

The helicopter had taken off from near Elmira, N.Y., and was heading to the New York City area, according to police.