Three others in the vehicle with Cottongim were injured, but the crash report identifying them is not yet complete.
The crash occurred when a blue 1998 Chevrolet Silverado was traveling east on Hamilton Eaton Road and proceeded through the intersection into the path of a gray 2013 GMC Sierra headed north on U.S. 127, said Butler County Sheriff’s Capt. Morgan Dallman.
Cottongim was the rear passenger of the Silverado. A front passenger in the Silverado, a 43-year-old woman, had to be extricated and transported to an area hospital with serious injuries. The other two occupants of the Silverado suffered minor injuries and were taken to the hospital.
The driver of the Sierra was the only occupant and was not injured.
A CareFlight medical helicopter that arrived at the scene just before 5 a.m. to transport a victim crashed while landing and took down power lines. Three crew members aboard were evaluated and treated at the hospital, Premier Health officials said.
The road was shut down for hours during investigation and cleanup. The Butler County Sheriff’s Office said it reopened about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday.
In radio traffic released from the sheriff’s office, Sgt. Joe Agnew calls for help “ASAP.”
“Had a chopper go down here,” Agnew tells dispatchers. “We’ve got wires down. Don’t know if anyone is electrocuted yet.”
Two sheriff’s cruisers were damaged when the helicopter made its hard landing — one by debris that shattered a window and the other by downed power lines that fell across it, according to Dallman. A K-9 was in the cruiser with the damaged window, but the dog was not injured.
“With the amount of debris and power lines going down … it is amazing that none of the officers or firefighters were injured,” Dallman said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are working through the investigation process with the other agencies that responded to the fatal crash.
Keith Holloway of the NTSB said the agency did not send an investigator to the scene, but they are “working with the FAA who ... will provide it to the NTSB for its investigation.”
Holloway estimated a report would be available in about 12 days.
911 calls
A woman involved in the crash Tuesday called 911 telling dispatchers ,”I am bleeding all over ... I need help.”
Then a male came on the line, saying that was his mother and they were in a crash.
“I am out here with my grandmother and she is not responding too much,” the caller said. He said in addition to him, his grandmother, mother and stepfather were in the crashed vehicle. They all are injured with his mother being pinned inside. He said they had just picked his mother up from the emergency room at Kettering Health Hamilton.
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