Local pilot shares details in search for missing helicopter

MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky.-A missing pilot, 69-year-old Louisville, TN resident David Stone, was found Monday morning in Mammoth Cave National Park. 

Stone, last seen flying in his helicopter, had been missing since Saturday.

Stone was flying solo from St. Louis to Knoxville….flying lower due to bad weather. 

“It’s a helicopter so they’re gonna fly lower than airplanes generally do, that’s not an unsafe practice at all,” said Flywell Aviation owner and pilot Justin Tidwell. 

Two of Stone’s close friends drove cross country to help in the search efforts. 

“I ended up flying his two best friends that served in the Air Force with him and worked in the air lines with him. Saturday evening, they drove up from South Carolina, just really distraught,” said Tidwell, who helped in the search. 

Unfortunately, the helicopter was spotted in a dense area of Mammoth Cave National Park. 

“Just looking, it was difficult to see anything from the ground. So it was recommended that they go up and look from the air to find the location at that point. That’s when KSP identified the helicopter.”

A post about the search had gained traction online. Tidwell said the community had a huge part in finding Stone. 

“The Facebook post that had over 700 shares directly led us to the helicopter,” said Tidwell. 

Tidwell says friends and family will remember that he passed doing what he loved.

“We’re [pilots] all really a family. He was a veteran in the Air Force, he was an airline pilot after that, a civilian career, he had recently retired not long ago, but a very experienced pilot,” said Tidwell. 

There was no damage done to the forestry at Mammoth Cave. The case is under investigation and the cause of the crash has not been released.