TUSCUMBIA – A small, Experimental Type helicopter crashed alongside Highway 72A this morning shortly after 8:00 AM. The pilot escaped from the wreckage with no apparent injuries. According to the pilot, Lee Crosby, Tuscumbia, the single seat aircraft went down just a few hundred feet from where it took off. The accident happened about 1/4 mile West of the Colbert County Co-Op. 
Police and Fire Departments from Tuscumbia, Muscle Shoals and the Colbert County EMA arrived on the scene about 8:15 AM to find the helicopter on fire.
The flames were extinguished, and no person on the ground was injured. According to Crosby, who was in the process of completing his flight training and who had only 15 hours of time in the helicopter, the vehicle made an abrupt right-hand roll at low altitude and caused the main rotor blades to encounter the ground.
The chopper’s fuel caught on fire, and completely destroyed the aircraft.
