Pilot uninjured after crop-dusting helicopter hits power line in northeast Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A helicopter pilot is OK after making an emergency landing in a bean field.

The Stanton County Sheriff’s Office said it was notified about a downed crop duster northwest of Clarkson on Friday morning.

A public power crew was investigating an outage when they spotted a damaged helicopter in a field.

Sheriff Mike Unger thinks the helicopter hit a power line while crop dusting and was forced to land.

But the pilot was nowhere to be found, even after a thermal drone was deployed.

After an hour of searching, deputies found the pilot in Valley, Nebraska.

The 41-year-old Omaha man told deputies he’d left the scene with a co-worker and came back to Valley, where he flew out from.

He made no effort to contact authorities after the emergency landing, deputies said.

The helicopter is inoperable, and special equipment will be brought in to pull it from the field in the coming days.