Tennessee helicopter pilot found dead in Mammoth Cave National Park
Kentucky State Police worked with National Park Service staff to locate the aircraft
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A helicopter pilot was found dead in Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park.
The National Park Service said in a statement that at 4 p.m. CT on Monday, law enforcement officers from the park had received a notification that a helicopter crash with a single fatality had been discovered inside the park's southern boundary.
The pilot, 69-year-old David Stone, was found dead at the scene.
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Stone, of Louisville, Tennessee, had been flying alone from St. Louis, Missouri, to Knoxville, Tennessee, on Saturday before contact was lost with his aircraft.
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The visitor center at Mammoth Cave National Park (NPS Photo)
Park officials were initially notified of the potential downed helicopter at around 10:30 a.m. that Monday.
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Eyewitness accounts and information from the last location put the helicopter within close proximity to Mammoth Cave National Park.
A U.S. Park Ranger Law Enforcement vehicle at Mammoth Cave National Park (NPS Photo)
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Park staff worked with Barren and Glasgow County Emergency Management, Edmonson County Emergency Management and Kentucky State Police, searching park areas accessible by roads and trails.
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Trees surround a natural sinkhole on July 1, 2020, in Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
The helicopter was located in the late afternoon by a search helicopter.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by both the National Park Service and the National Transportation Safety Board.
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The park said it will release more information to the public as it becomes available.