The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Conn. pilot killed in Nevada copter crash
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration spent hours Thursday at the scene of a deadly helicopter crash in Nevada that left a Milford man dead and another man critically injured.
Nevada Highway Patrol reported the crash around 4:20 p.m. PDT, Wednesday on state Route 159 near the Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center. On Thursday, the pilot was identified as 53yearold Milford resident Scott Socquet by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
“This is a tragedy and our entire community mourns,” Milford Mayor Ben Blake said. “On behalf of the city of Milford, our hearts go out to Scott’s family.”
No one was home when a Hearst Connecticut Media reporter stopped by Socquet’s Milford residence.
The passenger on the plane when it crashed, a man in his 20s, remained hospitalized with critical injuries Thursday, according to a report from 8 News Now, a local news station in Nevada. His identity has not yet been released.
Jason Buratczuk, an officer with the Nevada Highway Patrol, said good Samaritans jumped in to help the pilot and his critically injured passenger before emergency responders got to the site of the crash. The pilot and a passenger were taken to a nearby hospital for their injuries.
Socquet died from the injuries he sustained in the crash. The passenger, whose identity has not been released, was critically injured and remained in critical condition Thursday.
Later in the evening in Nevada — just before midnight on the East Coast — the Nevada Highway Patrol said the FAA was “expected to investigate the helicopter crash scene until tomorrow (Thursday) morning.” The highway patrol said Thursday that the roadway reopened around noon PDT.
Red Rock Canyon is about 25 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip. It features a 13mile oneway sightseeing loop, rock climbing and hiking trails. It gets about 2 million visitors a year.
According to the FAA, the helicopter involved in the crash is registered to Binner Enterprises, a flight school in Henderson, Nev. Socquet previously rented helicopters from Binner Enterprises in Henderson, Nev., according to reports.
Socquet’s zoominfo business file links him with EPIC Aviation Management, based out of Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford. The company offers services including aircraft management, aircraft sales and affiliate charter flights. Property records show he has lived in Milford since 2003.
According to the FAA, Socquet was certified to fly as an airline transport pilot on single and multiengine aircraft. He also had commercial privileges on rotocraft/helicopters and was certified as a flight instructor on single and multiengine aircraft.
His last medical information was updated in January 2019 with the requirement that he must have available glasses for near vision.
There were several requirement thresholds that had to be met for Socquet to obtain his pilot license and certifications.
To get an airline transport pilot helicopter license, a person must first hold a commercial license with instrument rating, according to the FAA.
To obtain a commercial license, a pilot must already have a license to fly one privately, which requires the pilot to be at least 17, log at least 40 hours of flight time, pass a written test and an oral test and be able to read, write and speak English. A commercial license can only be obtained by someone who is at least 18, who has logged 150 hours of flight time and who has passed a written test, an oral test and a practical flight test.
Instrument rating is obtained by someone who is at least 17 and who logged 50 hours of crosscountry flight as pilotincommand, logged 40 hours of flight by reference to instruments only and passed a written test, an oral test and a practical flight test.