UPDATED 11:00 PM

The Arkansas National Guard is crediting a talented pilot for saving the lives of two passengers and his own.

The three were aboard on OH-58 Kiawa helicopter flying from Clinton to Flippin, Arkansas.

The chopper went down around 1:30 Thursday afternoon in the Buffalo River, which runs through a remote area of the Ozark Mountains, south of Highway 14.

Arm y investigators may not know the cause of the crash for some time; it’s a guard copter, and the pilot is a soldier.

But the two others on board were a state police officer, and a county drug agent.

They were running a drug-related mission that ended with a splash and an unplanned swim.

The beautiful Buffalo makes for a watery grave.

“Right there is about is six feet,” explains Staff Sergeant Chris Durney as he points to the bottom of the helicopter, the only part left still above water.

It may be six feet under, but its three occupants faired considerably better.

“There were some swimmers in the area who actually went out to the aircraft and aided,” says Durney.

The men made it out of the chopper with just bumps and bruises.

“It looks to me like the pilot did some heroic piloting to get the helicopter down safely and all three out."

The guard is investigating the cause and determining the best way to recover the aircraft, tasks creating quite a commotion in this little tourist spot.

Several hundred feet from the crash site, residents of campground “B” had no idea a helicopter had landed in the middle of their vacation.

“You never know what's going to happen on the river,” the Fitzhughs say with a laugh.
The Arkansas natives and full-time RVers who regularly float down the Buffalo have come to accept the occasional flasher.

“We came around the bend and there she was,” Chris Fitzhughs remembers.
But summer '09 has had a few surprises.

“Monday we were up at Toad Suck and they had a stake-out, a sting they called it, and they arrested seven guys,” she says.

Then there was this.

“I told my husband, I said, “I wonder what's going to happen this next weekend."
According to the guard, not another crash- at least not one involving them.

“It’s very, very rare for these helicopters to have any sort of problem,” Durney explains.

In fact, the last time an Arkansas guard helicopter went down was nearly three years ago.

There were no fatalities that time either.

Friday the guard will remove the OH-58; they plan to take it back to Camp Robinson in north Little Rock, although they do not know the extent of its damage.

Interestingly, the OH-58 is being phased out for a faster, safer, more comfortable helicopter.

FROM EARLIER


UPDATED 4:00 PM

The National Park Service issued the following statement about the crash of an Arkansas National Guard helicopter Thursday:

At 1:22 pm, Thursday, June 4, 2009, an Arkansas Air National Guard
helicopter experienced mechanical failure, losing power and
autorotated into the Buffalo River at Buffalo Point in Marion County.

The three crewmembers were able to reach shore without assistance;
two are hospitalized, one sustaining serious injury in the crash.
National Park Service, Arkansas State Police, Marion County Sherriff,
and Ralph Caney FD were on scene within minutes of the incident to
assist.

There is little potential for a fuel spill since the chopper
was equipped with a self-sealing fuel system. The river from Highway
14 bridge to Buffalo Point is closed to river traffic. The gravel
bar and parking lot at Buffalo Point are closed until further notice.

The UH-58 helicopter was on a routine mission between Clinton and the
Flippin Airport for Twentieth Judicial Task Force, National Park
Service, and Arkansas State Police when the incident occurred.


FROM EARLIER

The Arkansas State Police reports an Arkansas National Guard helicopter crashed into the Buffalo River on Highway 268 near Buffalo Point, south of Yellville.

The agency says three people were on board: one pilot, one state police officer, and one drug task force agent.

The state police says everyone on the helicopter survived. Two people are in the hospital.

The Baxter Bulletin reports the UH-58 helicopter was on a routine mission between Clinton and Flippin Airport for the 12th Judicial Task Force, National Park Service and Arkansas State Police when the incident occurred.