Tragedy Compounded: Wife Was On Board Chopper

A helicopter pilot for was killed Friday afternoon when he walked into the running main rotor of the helicopter that he was piloting at the Morristown Airport (MOR).

Harold E. "Gene" Jones, 64, of Princeton, West Virginia had landed the Logan & Kanawha Coal Co. Bell 407 helicopter at an airport in Morristown, Tenn., said John Earles, director of human resources for the company, according to the Sunday Gazette-Mail.

"When they landed, two passengers got off and the pilot carried their bags to the end of the terminal building," said Charles Greenlee, a flight instructor at the airport. "Then he started walking out to the helicopter, which he left running, and walked into it."

The blades struck Jones at about eye level, Greenlee said.

Company President Gary White had exited the helicopter minutes before the accident occurred, Earles said. White, who had his wife, Jo Anne, with him, was on company business. They did not see the accident, White said.

"He was a very experienced pilot," Earles said of Jones. "I believe he served two tours in Vietnam. He was very accomplished. ... He was a good friend and a wonderful man."

Earles said Jones started with Logan & Kanawha Coal Co. or companies affiliated with it in 1982.

The Morristown airport handles between 25 and 40 charter flights a day on its 5,700-foot runway, Greenlee said.

FMI: www.airnav.com/airport/KMOR