A Manatee County Mosquito Control helicopter struck a private radio tower in rural Myakka City and crashed, killing the pilot, on Thursday night.
The county sheriff’s office said multiple 911 calls were received about the collision around 8:54 p.m. The helicopter crashed and caught fire in a wooded area behind several homes on the 10000 block of 290th Street East, near Dakin Dairy Farms.
The pilot, identified as 63-year-old Isaac Moore, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Residents who reported the crash removed the pilot as sheriff’s deputies, East Manatee Fire Rescue and Manatee County EMS were en route, the sheriff’s office said.
The tower, estimated at about 150 feet tall, is on private property, sheriff’s spokesman Randy Warren said. He said the pilot apparently lost control of the aircraft and crashed near the tower in the backyard of a residence, creating a debris field of about 100 wide.
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“To my knowledge, there are no lights on the tower, and I understand that if it's under 200 feet, they do not have to be lit,” Warren said.
Moore was the only occupant of the helicopter, and no other injuries were reported, the sheriff's office said.
Aerial pesticide spraying for mosquitoes has increased in the Tampa Bay area because of an outbreak of dengue fever. While no cases have been reported this year in Manatee County, it is under a state-issued advisory for mosquito-borne illnesses.
Of the state’s confirmed 368 cases this year through Oct. 10, 310 have been in Hillsborough County and 37 in Pinellas County, according to the state health department.
The mosquito control agency says it only sprays when there is a need based on mosquito population surveillance.
Warren said Moore may have just finished spraying for the night when the crash occurred.
A second agency helicopter was in the area about two miles away conducting routine spraying at the time of the crash. That pilot saw the other helicopter go down before landing safely at Dakin Dairy Farms, Warren said.
“They're all over the county spraying,” he said. “We all hear them and see them and appreciate the hard work that they do, the very dangerous work that they do in spraying those chemicals.”
Mosquito control officials were at the scene late Thursday, Warren said.
“They're dealing with what they have to deal with in terms of their employees and a family member who is deceased, a pilot,” he said.
Sheriff’s detectives secured the scene and are continuing to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board on the crash investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
“Our investigation will look at everything that we can do in terms of trying to help the FAA and the NTSB,” Warren said. “They will conduct their federal investigations on the aviation side.”
