New Mexico Helicopter Crash: Victims Were From Colorado, Texas

RATON, NM — State police said response was slow to a fiery helicopter crash in Raton, New Mexico, that left five people dead, and the victims hailed from Colorado, Texas and Africa. One victim was a key Zimbabwean opposition leader to former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.

A privately owned Huey Bell UH-1 helicopter crashed around 6 p.m. Mountain Time on Wednesday in a mountainous region about 15 miles east of Raton Municipal Airport, officials said. One person in the crash called 911 and said three people were hurt and three were unaccounted for, state police said in a release Thursday afternoon.

Several agencies responded to try to find the crash site, which wasn't immediately apparent. A fire was reported at a ranch nearby and troopers said the helicopter likely caused that blaze. Firefighters and law enforcement vehicles responded to the area but "response was slow" due to the the area being "extremely remote with rugged terrain and limited road access," troopers said. Wreckage was found on a rancher's property east of Raton. A grass fire had scorched an area about a mile around the crash site.

State troopers reported seeing the helicopter wreckage consumed in flames, making identification difficult. Three people were declared dead at the scene and two males were found critically hurt. One of them died at the scene shortly thereafter and the other died while being airlifted to a hospital.

The remaining passenger, who called 911, was hurt but able to provide some information. That person suffered serious injuries and is expected to live.

The victims were identified by state police as pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd, 57, of Trinidad, Colorado; co-pilot Paul Cobb, 67, of Conroe, Texas; Charles Ryland Burnett, 61, of Houston, Texas; Roy Bennett, 60, of Colorado and South Africa; and Heather Bennett, 55, of Colorado.

Roy Bennett was a white man who spoke fluent Shona and drew the wrath of former President Robert Mugabe, The Associated Press reported. Despite being white, he had won a parliamentary seat in a rural constituency, angering Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party. Bennett won a devoted following of black Zimbabweans for passionately advocating political change and was known as "Pachedu," meaning "one of us" in Shona. He was often called the sharpest thorn in Mugabe's side.

Obert Gutu, a spokesman for the MDC-T opposition party, called Bennett's death tragic and said his wife Heather was also killed.

The nature of the flight remains a mystery. The helicopter was identified as a private Huey helicopter but the tail number wasn't immediately available.

Limited flight details indicate the helicopter was traveling from Raton to Folsom, New Mexico. Investigators were trying to determine the aircraft’s tail number, Lynn Lunsford of the Federal Aviation Administration told Patch in an email. The FAA will release that information once it becomes available.

The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation, he said. The NTSB confirmed on Twitter it was investigating.

Eric Weiss of the NTSB tells Patch an investigator is headed to the scene and is expected to arrive at 3 p.m. He says he doesn't anticipate any further updates until Friday.

Raton is located on Interstate 25, about 175 miles northeast of Albuquerque, right on the Colorado border.

____

This version corrects the identity one of the victims was Heather Bennett, not Eileen, as state police originally said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Hit refresh for updates.

Photo credit: A Bell UH-1D helicopter of the Bundeswehr German armed forces participates in military exercises on September 28, 2011 near Munster, Germany. The exercises were a demonstration of the Bundesehr's infantry capability. The Bundeswehr has instituted far-reaching changes in recent years, including an end to compulsory military service. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)