EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been edited from an earlier version that incorrectly identified the person killed in the crash because of a Washington State Patrol error.
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Officials have yet to positively identify the man who died when a Clarkston-based helicopter crashed in Garfield County Saturday afternoon while working on a mule deer study for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Garfield County Prosecutor Matt Newberg, who is also the county coroner, said the victim didn’t have identification on his person. He also hadn’t been able to speak with the two other people in the helicopter because they were hospitalized in Lewiston.
Newberg said he has tentatively identified the deceased man and hopes to release his name after he completes notifying next of kin.
The man was in the right front passenger seat of a small helicopter when it went down around 2 p.m. Saturday in Ping Gulch, about 25 miles north of Pomeroy, according to the Washington State Patrol. He died at the scene.
Early Sunday afternoon, WSP misidentified the person who died. The Tribune posted that information to its website and through social media but later removed the postings after learning of the error.
WSP Trooper Chris Thorson said the suspected victim had a very similar name, which likely led to the confusion.
The pilot of the Hughes-model helicopter, 33-year-old Blake Malo of Clarkston, was in critical condition at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston on Sunday, according to a nursing supervisor. Passenger Garrett Bradshaw, 30, of Eagle Point, Ore., was in fair condition.
Malo and Bradshaw were flown to the hospital by a LifeFlight helicopter from the remote scene of the crash, according to Thorson.
