UPDATE: The pilot of a 1967 Bell UH-1H helicopter that crashed in Fresno County has been identified as 53-year-old Steven Wilson of Shafter, CA.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said a crop duster helicopter pilot was killed in a crash Tuesday night near Coalinga.
The Sheriff's Office said it received a report from a crop-dusting company that they hadn't heard from one of their helicopter pilots. Deputies searched for the missing helicopter and the California Highway Patrol and crop dusting company sent planes out to search as well, said the Sheriff's Office.
Shortly before 3 a.m. a crop-dusting plane spotted the helicopter crashed near trees just outside of Coalinga. The pilot was declared dead at the scene. The identity of the pilot, said to be in his 50s, hasn't been released, said the Sheriff's Office.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the crash.
