Former Us Army ranger Jon Bahr, 27, died in a helicopter crash around noon Saturday
A 27-year-old former US Army ranger has died in a horror helicopter crash when the aircraft plunged into a Wisconsin river after hitting power lines.
Jon Bahr has been identified as the victim who was tragically killed when an aircraft went down into the Fox River in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, around 12.30pm Saturday, killing the Platteville man.
The helicopter was reportedly taking photos of an annual charity poker run taking place along the river, when it hit electrical wires and fell into the water.
The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office identified Bahr on Sunday according to ABC2.
Bahr was a former Airborne Ranger with the US army.
Bahr’s friends and family took to Facebook to mourn their loss.
‘You were one of the few in the family that I thought I actually tried to get past the ignorant misconception of me as a person,’ one family member, Jeremy Ryan wrote.’
Another friend, Jamie Schmitt, said: ‘Rest in piece [sic] my friend Jon Bahr can’t believe you’re gone..At least you were doing what you loved to do!’
Bahr was a former Airborne Ranger with the US army. His friends and family took to Facebook to mourn the loss
A helicopter crashed into the Fox River in Wisconsin after hitting power lines on Saturday, killing one man, the craft being recovered from the water above
Winnebago County Sheriff’s dive team searched the Fox River in Oshkosh Wisconsin to recover the wreckage and the body
The craft suddenly plunged into the water after hitting power lines that broke off part of its propeller
Traffic on the river was halted as Winnebago County Sheriff officers and divers arrived on the scene to remove the wires from the water and lift the helicopter to the surface.
One photograph of the rescue mission shows the collapsed frame of the aircraft and the broken tail.
Witnesses of the crash say that the helicopter plunged into the water after it struck the wires and part of the propeller broke off.
Gary Lemiesz, watched the crash unfold and said ‘it hit hard and sunk’.
Witness Jake Vande Voort shared video of the helicopter just 30 minutes prior to the crash where it flies above a boat speeding below it, according to ABC.
A man named Isaac Jansen told ABC2 the craft had just re-fueled at Wittman Regional Airport and was en route to pick him up when it crashed into the wires.
The crash happened as the waterfront was full of boaters participating in the Lake Winnebago Four Horsemen Poker Run.
Boat traffic on the river near the crash site was stopped for hours while authorities carried out the search.
This is the second helicopter crash in Wisconsin this year.
Three people died in April when a medical helicopter crashed near Hazelhurst, in the northern part of the state.
The helicopter, above, was filmed above a boat just 30 minutes before the crash
It fell in Oshkosh, Wisconsin into the Fox River, halting boat traffic for hours
Police closed down the area as their recovered the wreckage and the body after the crash