Helicopter crash kills AGFC officer

QUITMAN During a routine patrol to target illegal game hunters, a helicopter crashed early Sunday in Cleburne County, killing one wildlife officer.

The crash took place at 1 a.m. Sunday outside Quitman, said Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens.

Sgt. Monty Carmikle, 45, of Heber Springs died in the crash. With him was Jerry Fryar of Ozark, who was taken to a Conway hospital and released with non-threatening injuries.

The wildlife officer was a passenger in the Bell OH-58 helicopter, a Vietnam-era aircraft used to patrol violators of the night deer hunting ban in Arkansas.

Stephens pinpointed the location as being near Arkansas 25 and Sawmill Road, five miles north of the small community of Quitman.

"It was a routine operation that they were trying to find some night hunters and they were in a rural area of the state there in Cleburne County when it went down," he said.

Stephens said the agency had heard that someone was hunting in the dark for deer, shining lights on the animals to cause them to stop moving. Deer season began Nov. 8 in Arkansas.

As of Sunday, Stephens did not know the cause of the helicopter crash. "The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) are investigating so they'll determine that part," he said.

While the helicopter managed to land upright, Stephens said there was considerable damage, indicating that the rotor broke off and the fuselage buckled.

Stephens said this is the first time an officer with the commission has died in a work-related accident since the 1970s, when two officers died in a plane crash.

Though the crash took place outside of Faulkner County, deputies still responded, aiding the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office at the scene.

"We had a deputy go and relieve members of the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office, to allow them to warm up and get coffee," Sheriff Karl Byrd said.

Carmikle had been at the Game and Fish Commission since 1985, and leaves behind his wife and son.

AGFC wildlife officer Major Mike Knoedl said the agency was upset by Carmikle's death. "Being a wildlife officer is a very dangerous job. We're trained for just about everything, but in this instance it was out of the officer's control," he said.

Quitman is located about 30 miles outside of Conway.

(Staff writer Jerrica Ryan can be reached by e-mail at jerrica.ryan@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1266. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit.)