Current delays recovery efforts in Ga. police chopper crash

By Lee Roop Alabama Media Group

CHILTON COUNTY, Ala. — Searchers suspended their hunt Saturday for a Georgia drug task force helicopter that went down in the area of the Coosa River and Lake Mitchell on Friday. A strong current kept divers from recovering at least one person feared to have gone down with the craft, authorities said.

The helicopter was from the Columbus area and assigned to a multi-agency drug task force – the Metro Narcotics Task Force. The narcotics task force includes Columbus and Phenix City police, and Russell County and Muscogee County sheriff’s investigators.

“We had better visibility today,” the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office said in a Saturday night Facebook post. “We were able to get a digital mapping of the aircraft and establish a down line from the surface to the aircraft itself.

“However, while the river current was not an issue yesterday afternoon, a strong current did impede a successful recovery today,” the post continued. “We are currently working with Alabama Power to utilize the Hydroelectric Dam system to mitigate the current.”

“Our prayers are continued to those families affected by this crash.” the post said. “It is certainly not by choice that we have to wait another night. Everyone worked as hard as possible throughout the day for a successful recovery but Mother Nature is a formidable opponent.”

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(UPDATE AND SUMMARY OF WHAT WE KNOW AS OF NOW) 21:00 11/17/2018 UPDATE We had better visibility today. We were able to…

Posted by Chilton County Sheriff’s Office on Friday, November 16, 2018