July 11, 1:37 p.m. update: The Virginia State Police on Wednesday released the name of the pilot involved in the helicopter crash on Sunday in Williamsburg after his body was positively identified by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.
The pilot was Henry E. Schwarz, 85, of the 4300 block of Southwood Drive in Alexandria, said State Police spokeswoman Michelle Anaya.
Charley Rogers, operator of the Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport, previously confirmed Monday that Schwarz was the pilot of the helicopter that crashed into Bristol Commons condominiums at 4:42 p.m. Sunday.
Meantime, a missing dog has been found alive.
Syblle Bakewell lived in one of the condos destroyed by the fire and managed to escape, but could not find Princeton, her black and tan Yorkie. Bakewell and her son were reunited with Princeton later Monday after spotting him at the top of the stairwell in the burned out home. They took the dog to the nearby veterinarian after they noticed some burns.
July 9, 3:51 p.m. update: Despite her age, Jean Lonchak Danylko, 91, was active in the community and an avid reader of The Virginia Gazette, according to Mark Danylko, her only son.
Originally from Connecticut, Danylko traveled often and worked for former PBS CEO Bruce Christiansen in Utah and Washington, D.C. before settling down at her Bristol Crossing condominium 17 years ago.
“She met a lot of influential people and travelled all over the world,” said Paula Williams, her daughter-in-law.
Danylko lived alone in her condominium, and regularly exercised at the local community center, volunteered at and attended Mass every Sunday at St. Olaf Catholic Church.
“She was very dynamic and vivacious,” said Pamela Bradley, Mark Danylko’s sister-in-law. “She was very loving, and she was very loved.”
Mark Danylko said he found out about the accident while watching the 7 o’clock news Sunday. After finding the location online, he raced into town from his home in Hampton.
“We tried calling her earlier just to say hi and the phone wasn’t working, which isn’t that unusual around here, but then I saw that and I hopped in my car and came right up here,” he said. “It wasn’t until 10 o’clock last night that I actually found out that my mother had died.”
The family will begin making funeral arrangements today.
“She didn’t want a big service at all, even though she was a good Catholic,” said Mark Danylko. “She wanted to be cremated and have a small memorial service and that’s it.”
3:30 p.m. update: Officials from the NTSB recovered the pilot’s body this morning; local and state police will make final identification of the remains in the morning
2:46 p.m. update: Charley Rogers, operator of the Williamsburg James City Airport confirmed Monday afternoon that Henry Schwarz was the pilot of the helicopter that crashed into the condominiums at Bristol Commons Sunday.
Rogers said he was interviewed by the FAA.
Ray Jarman said Monday that Virginia Helicopter Association President Henry Schwarz arrived at 1 p.m. yesterday in his R-44 helicopter at the Williamsburg Jamestown Airport.
After the Virginia Helicopter Association meeting, Schwarz departed the airport at 4:26 p.m. in his aircraft.
“While I was there when he flew in,” Jarman said, “I’m 99 percent sure nobody else was on it except him.”
“He loved anything that flew,” Jarman said. “He was just telling me again yesterday he still had this Seawind Seaplane that he had up in his hangar that he was trying to restore back to a flyable condition.”
Schwarz served as the president of the Virginia Helicopter Association for the last five years after he helped found the group in 2006, according to Jarman. The organization comprises about 20 helicopter pilots and enthusiasts.
“I don’t know what happened yesterday after Henry took off,” Jarman said, choking up. “I know he was the type of person that if he had any type of control over that aircraft at all, it wouldn’t have ended up where it did.”
“The thing with helicopters is, helicopters have thousands of rotating, moving parts. Helicopters have everything that moves. It’s got to all work together, and maintenance wise, it all has to be put together for things to work right. We always have a saying, helicopter pilots get nose bleeds over 500 feet. In other words, they don’t like to fly high they want to be able to get on the ground in a hurry.”
Jarman serves as a membership coordinator with the association. The group tries to meet on the 2nd Sunday of every month to eat lunch together. On Sunday, the group met at the Williamsburg Jamestown Airport to eat lunch at Charley’s Restaurant.
“If it had to be based anywhere, it’d have to be based out of Williamsburg,” Jarman said of the association. “It doesn’t have an office or anything.”
Jarman said he was on his way home to Chesapeake, Va. when the crash occurred.
The airport is 3 miles southwest of Williamsburg, according to AirNav. The airport is home to 58 single-engine airplanes and one multi-engine airplane. Stafford Regional Airport Manager Ed Wallis confirmed Schwarz leased a hangar and operated out of the airport. He could not provide further details, he said.
1:25 update: Bristol Commons resident Maria Robertson says she was at nearby Kiwanis Park with family Sunday when she saw a helicopter flying low over Longhill Road, headed south. She said she didn’t see any damage, smoke or fire coming from the aircraft.
“I looked up and saw that it was coming down and we were with other people looking at each other thinking ‘did this just happen?’ and in a few seconds we just heard a loud boom and saw the smoke,” Robertson said. “It’s just surreal.”
1:03 p.m. update: Williamsburg Fire Department officials have confirmed that the building where the helicopter crashed has been condemned, and residents are not allowed to enter.
Syblle Bakewell escaped her townhouse Sunday, but is still searching for Princeton, her black and tan Yorkie. She pleaded with state police officers Monday morning to let her into her townhome. “People lost their lives in there, I don’t know where my dog is,” she said through tears.
Her son, Tyler, says he spotted paw prints on the front steps of the townhouse, and walked around the perimeter of the crash site with a few residents calling the dog’s name.
12:30 p.m.: Officials continue to investigate a helicopter crash in the Bristol Commons neighborhood of Williamsburg.
While investigators have yet to identify the pilot or craft that crashed at the complex Sunday afternoon, Charley Rogers of Williamsburg Jamestown Airport confirmed an R-44 helicopter arrived at the airport at 1 p.m. Sunday and left the airport at 4:26 p.m. Sunday.
The building in the 1100 block of Settlement Drive was hit around 4:42 p.m., according to Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
10 a.m. update
Jean Lonchak Danylko, 91, was identified as the person who died after a helicopter crashed into a Williamsburg condominium Sunday afternoon, according to state police spokeswoman Michelle Anaya.
Danylko was a female resident in one of the units beneath the crash, Anaya said.
The cause of the crash and whereabouts of the pilot are under investigation.
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WILLIAMSBURG — A person died in a condominium building that caught fire after being hit by a helicopter Sunday.
The 10-unit building in the Bristol Commons neighborhood of Williamsburg was gutted by the fire, which still wasn’t deemed under control hours after the crash.
Virginia State Police said there was one confirmed fatality in the building, and search and rescue is still ongoing. The person who died was not the pilot of the helicopter, state police spokeswoman Michelle Anaya said. Other identifying information was not available.
The building in the 1100 block of Settlement Drive was hit around 4:42 p.m., according to Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
Other details — including how the crash happened, other injuries or type of helicopter — were not available by press time.
Residents who saw and heard the crash said before state police released information that it was a small helicopter that hit the building.
As crews battled the fire, pieces of the helicopter were visible on what was left of the structure. A piece of the building or the helicopter even fell on a firefighter. Much of the building was destroyed or damaged, but it looked to be contained to the one building in the complex.
Crews worked for several hours after the call came in. Along with Williamsburg fire and police personnel, College of William and Mary police, state police and York County’s drone team were at the scene.
The College of William and Mary sent out an alert about the crash, calling it an “aviation incident.” It advised the incident happened near the school’s Dillard Complex and told people to avoid the area.
Ironbound Road, which cuts between the apartment complex and the Dillard Complex, was closed for a couple hours after the crash.
As crews responded, dozens of people gathered around the building to watch.
Brook Sweeney, who lives across the street from the building that caught fire, said the impact sounded like a car crash.
Before that, he said, “I was upstairs when I heard what sounded like a helicopter flying really low overhead. The whole house shook and then I just heard a loud ‘bam’ and the whole house was on fire.”
Afterward, he helped out some people who lived in the building, he said, giving them water, clothes if they needed them, and getting them away from the commotion of firefighters working the scene and the people watching.
Donald Johnson, who lives in an apartment in the building that was hit, said, “It was 10 feet away from me. I was downstairs on the first floor when that thing hit and I had never heard a noise like that in my life. I just walked out and looked and got out, I was afraid it would blow up.”
Peggy Weiss also lives in the neighborhood and said she saw a small, rickety-looking helicopter crash in between two buildings.
Police said multiple agencies were working to identify and locate the pilot of the helicopter.
Anaya said crews couldn’t go into the building still around 8:45 p.m. because of hot spots inside. She expected the investigation to continue up to three days.
She did not know how many were displaced, but said the Red Cross was assisting people.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified of the crash. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Reyes can be reached by phone at 757-247-4692; Arriaza at 757-790-9313.
Reyes can be reached by phone at 757-247-4692 or on Twitter @jdauzreyes.
