Report: Guthrie Doctor killed in northeastern Pennsylvania helicopter crash

Friday, April 23rd 2021, 5:05 PM EDT

UPDATE (5:00 P.M.) -- Guthrie Health released a statement confirming the person who died in the helicopter crash was a doctor with the organization. The statement reads as follows:

The Guthrie community is deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of Dr. Sanjay Kansara. Dr. Kansara joined Guthrie is September, 2020 and was a member of the Robert Packer Hospital anesthesiology team.

“Dr. Kansara was a devoted anesthesiologist who was committed to providing wonderful care to his patients. He was friendly and had an upbeat, positive demeanor with patients and colleagues,” said Dr. Burdett Porter.

According to his colleagues, Dr. Kansara had a passion for flying and enjoyed the freedom of being able to fly himself between his home in the Allentown area and Guthrie’s Sayre Campus.

“We extend our condolences to Dr. Kansara’s family. We will all miss this fine physician and gentleman. This loss will be deeply felt by the Guthrie family,” said Dan Brown, MD, Chair, Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine.

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UPDATE: According to the Allentown Morning Call, the person who was killed in the crash was Dr. Sanjay Kansara, an anesthesiologist through Guthrie.

The flight logs obtained by WENY News say the Robinson R44 was registered to a Sanjay Kansara.

The Morning call says Dr. Kansara's wife confirmed he was the person killed in the crash. She said he comes home once a week to the Allentown area and then spends the rest of the week in an apartment near Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre.

She adds her husband received his pilot's license a year ago.

UPDATE: WENY News has learned a Robinson R44 helicopter left Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport at 8:10 p.m. Thursday night. According to flight logs, its destination was listed "near Wilkes-Barre, PA"; the flight log has "result unknown" listed under the arrival time.

The FAA has not yet confirmed if this helicopter is the one that crashed.

UPDATE: WNEP is reporting one person was killed in the crash.

WYOMING, Pa. (AP) - Authorities were investigating a helicopter crash in northeastern Pennsylvania, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The wreckage of a Robinson R44 copter was found in a remote area of Wyoming on Thursday night after the agency had issued an alert about a missing aircraft, the FAA said.

There was no word on the number of people on board or their conditions.

According to the FAA, the flight had departed Allentown Queen Municipal Airport in Allentown and was headed to Bradford County Airport in Towanda.

The Robinson R44 is a four-seat light helicopter that has been in production since 1992.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be in charge of the investigation.

No other information was available.

4/23/2021 8:59:45 AM (GMT -4:00)