Charter captain was on the river when helicopter crashed nearby

WEST ALTON, Ill. – For the past 16 years, Wallace Maier has been taking guests up and down the Mississippi River to search for catfish on charter trips.

Maier was on the water late Thursday morning with five guests, heading back up the river, when they saw a crew working on a transmission line over the Mississippi River. Maier said he’ll never forget what he saw next.

“All of a sudden, it touched the line, and it wasn’t a helicopter anymore. In two seconds, it was a thousand pieces,” Maier said. “All you seen was a fiery ball and it came across and landed on this Missouri-side barge waiting up here to go through the lock.”

Maier called 911 and noticed two transmission lines in the water. It’s believed the people in the helicopter were working to install visibility markers; the orange spheres help low-flying aircraft and migrating birds better see the lines.

“When it hit, it was a split second. It didn’t wrap up or anything. As soon as it touched, it was just an explosion,” he said. “It was just gone. It was a white helicopter and when it hit, it wasn’t a white helicopter anymore – it was just a fireball.”

Two people are confirmed dead after the helicopter crashed onto the deck of a barge that was moored to the shore, waiting to go through the Melvin Price Lock and Dam near Alton.

“Props to whoever that barge captain is out there, whoever it is. Because they pulled off that barge and went over there and put that fire out within minutes. Before the fire department,” Maier said. “Because the fire department couldn’t get here that quickly. That could have been a way bigger disaster than it already is.”