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Two-car accident at Route 77 and Ledge, Alabama, unknown injuries

By Howard B. Owens

A two-car motor vehicle accident is reported at Alleghany Road and Ledge Road, Alabama.

The accident is blocking with one car on its side.

Unknown injuries.

Alabama Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 3:22 p.m.: Indian Falls Fire dispatched, mutual aid.

UPDATE 3:44 p.m.: A second motor vehicle accident is reported at Judge Road and Alleghany Road, Alabama. Unknown injuries. Blocking.  Possibly a farm tractor involved.

Pedestrian hit by car at East Main and Harvester, Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

City Fire is responding to East Main Street and Harvester Avenue where a pedestrian has reportedly been hit by a car.

The patient is up and walking around.

Mercy EMS also responding.

UPDATE 11:53 a.m.: The pedestrian is refusing any assistance and moving along, an officer on scene reports.

Motor vehicle accident reported on West Main Street, Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

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Dispatchers have received multiple calls regarding an automobile accident in the area of 211 West Main St., Batavia.

Unknown injuries.

At least one caller reported a possible ejection.

City Fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 10:17 p.m.: No one was ejected. There was one driver in each vehicle and they were each in their vehicles when police arrived on scene. One occupant is being transferred to United Memorial Medical Center for evaluation, and the other driver is being evaluated on scene. One vehicle was traveling southbound and the other vehicle was eastbound, and the vehicle on West Main Street allegedly was speeding, according to a witness, and ran a red light. That vehicle was T-boned by the other vehicle traveling on Oak Street. 

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Accident reported at Main and Bank, Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

A two-car motor vehicle accident with airbag deployment is reported at Main and Bank, Batavia.

Unknown injuries.  

Traffic is blocked.

City Fire and Mercy EMS responding.

Motor vehicle accident report on West Main near Oak, Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

A two-car motor vehicle accident is reported in the area of 140 West Main St., Batavia.

One person has a complaint of difficulty breathing because of an anxiety attack.

City Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

 

Injury accident reported on the Thruway in East Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

A car is off the roadway and into the trees on the Thruway near mile marker 395.5 in the eastbound direction of travel.

An occupant has a complaint of head pain. Extrication is needed.

Mercy Flight is on ground standby.

East Pembroke Fire along Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 1:31 p.m.: A second accident is reported at mile marker 396.4 eastbound, involving two vehicles with a rollover.  East Pembroke and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 1:32 p.m.: Pembroke and Indian Falls dispatched to the second accident.  East Pembroke's chief at the first scene reports, "we're going to be at this one for some time with extrication."

UPDATE 2:01 p.m.: Pembroke and Indian Falls clearing the scene, holding all equipment in quarters.

Three-vehicle accident reported on Lewiston Road

By Howard B. Owens

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A three-vehicle accident, believed to be with injuries, is reported at Lewiston Road and Batavia Oakfield Townline Road, Batavia.

A camper has rolled over and a person is believed to be trapped.

Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 1:39 p.m.: The location is in Oakfield's district. Oakfield Fire responding, Batavia to continue. Non-emergency response.  Minor injuries.

UPDATE 2:50 p.m.: The red Buick was westbound on Batavia Oakfield Townline Road and the white Ford pickup was north on Route 63.  The Buick pulled out in front of the pickup, according to Trooper Michael Machniak.  There were only minor injuries. All occupants were sign-offs.

Photos by Howard Owens

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Motorcyclist dies after bike leaves roadway on North Byron Road

By Alecia Kaus

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At 3:41 p.m. on May 21, 2022, Genesee County dispatchers received a call of a motorcycle off the road in the area of 6191 North Byron Road with the subject not breathing. 

According to Sgt. Andrew Hale with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, a male in his 60’s from Hilton, NY, was traveling eastbound on North Byron Road with three other motorcyclists when for some unknown reason the motorcycle left the roadway and went off the north shoulder of the road and through a ditch, striking a wooden fence, coming to rest on its side.

The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene by the Genesee Coroner’s Office.  The three other motorcyclists who were traveling with the victim were not in the area when the subject left the roadway and crashed.

The Sheriff’s Office is investigating the cause of the accident.

UPDATE: The driver has been identified as Thomas Hankey, 60, of Hilton. He was driving a 2013 Victory motorcycle.  It appears that Hankey was eastbound on North Byron Road with three other motorcycles when his bike left its lane of travel. It crossed over the center line and continued off the north shoulder of the road. The motorcycle struck a farm fence and flipped over end-over-end and came to rest on the north shoulder. The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Crash Management Team.  

By Alecia Kaus/Video News Service

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Person reports arm injury after accident in Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

A one-car motor vehicle accident is reported in the area of 9435 South Lake Road, Pembroke.

One subject reportedly has an arm injury.

Pembroke Fire and Indian Falls Fire along with Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 7:21 p.m.: More manpower needed for extrication.

UPDATE 7:23 p.m.: Corfu Fire requested to the scene to assist with extrication.

Person reportedly unresponsive following accident in Byron

By Howard B. Owens

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A motor vehicle accident is reported at Byron Holley Road and Cockram Road, Byron, with a subject in a vehicle unresponsive.

A power line is on the vehicle.

A transformer is down in the road and smoking.

Byron, South Byron, and Elba fire departments dispatched along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE 1:18 p.m.: National Grid expected on scene in 30 minutes. 

UPDATE 2:19 p.m.:  A silver four-door sedan was westbound on Cockram Road, and it appears to have failed to stop for a stop sign.

A maroon SUV was southbound and attempted to swerve to avoid a collision. The sedan T-boned the SUV, which then left the roadway and struck a utility pole, said Sergeant Michael J. Lute of Genesee County Sheriff's Office.

The sedan had one occupant, the driver, who was uninjured. The SUV had two occupants; both sustained minor injuries. Because of the angle of the SUV wedged under the utility pole, the initial caller could not have a clear view of the passenger compartment of the vehicle and thought at least one of the occupants was unresponsive, but neither occupant ever lost consciousness, Lute said.

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Tractor trailer-motorcycle accident

By Joanne Beck

Genesee County Dispatch reports a tractor trailer and motorcycle accident at Route 77 and Main Road in Pembroke.

Pembroke Fire and Indian Falls fire responding. Corfu is providing traffic control at Cohocton Road. 

UPDATE 7:44 p.m.: Mercy Flight is en route to the scene.

UPDATE: 8:03 p.m.: Mercy Flight is on the ground.

Two car accident reported on Ledge Road, Basom

By Howard B. Owens

A two-car motor vehicle accident is reported in the area of 1031 Ledge Road, Basom.

One person has a hand laceration.

Alabama Fire and Indian Falls Fire dispatched along with Mercy EMS.

Driver suffers apparent medical emergency, pronounced dead at scene of accident on West Main, Batavia

By Press Release

Press release:

At approximately 3:48 p.m. on May 7, City of Batavia Police Officers along with the City of Batavia Fire Department were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident near 390 West Main Street (Tops Market). 

A single vehicle, a Dodge pickup truck, was traveling on West Main Street when it appears the male operator and sole occupant of the vehicle suffered a medical emergency causing him to lose control of the vehicle. The vehicle crossed over all lanes of traffic and left the roadway onto the property of 390 West Main Street, where it struck a fence, coming to rest in the ditch on the property.

City Fire, along with Mercy EMS, attempted life-saving measures, however, the operator was pronounced deceased at the scene by Coroner Peck.

There were no other vehicles or parties involved.

The accident is still under investigation. An autopsy will be performed at the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office to determine the cause of death.

The release of the driver's identity is pending notification of family members. 

UPDATE: "The vehicle operator has been identified as Lars B. Walker, 64, of Phoenix, Arizona."

Possible serious injury accident reported on Ellicott Street Road, Bethany

By Howard B. Owens

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A motor vehicle accident is reported in the area of 6049 Ellicott Street Road, Bethany.

The original dispatch said a possible serious injury with one person unresponsive. 

When a first responder arrived on the scene, he reported three occupants self-extricated.

Mercy Flight out of Canandaigua is responding

Bethany Fire, Stafford Fire, and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 10:54 p.m.: A silver SUV was southbound on Route 63, and it stopped to make a lefthand turn into the residence of the vehicle's occupants. Meanwhile, a Ford pick-up that was also southbound rearended the SUV. The driver of the pick-up said he didn't see the turn signal until the last second, according to Sergeant Andrew Hale of Genesee County Sheriff's Office. There are no skid marks, and both drivers were uninjured, Hale said. The female passenger in the SUV was initially unresponsive. When a deputy arrived on scene, the passenger was out of the vehicle and walking. She was transported by Mercy Flight Central to Strong Memorial Hospital as a precaution, Hale said.

Photos by Howard Owens

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Minor injury accident reported on Townline Road, Bergen

By Howard B. Owens

A motor vehicle accident is reported at the railroad crossing on Townline Road, Bergen.

A minor head injury is reported.

Bergen Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched

Fire police are requested for traffic control.

Darien woman suffers serious injuries after car strikes pole, house on Erie Street

By Howard B. Owens

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A woman sustained serious injuries in Darien this evening when the car she was in left the roadway on Erie Street and struck a utility pole and a house before the operator attempted to drive away from the scene. 

He could only get his 2005 Toyota TC another 500 feet down the road before it stalled.

The driver, Michael J. Antonucci, 39, of Darien, and the other two passengers were not seriously hurt. In fact, one of them, with blood dripping down his face, declined medical attention at the scene and walked home.

Both rear passengers were pinned in the vehicle and could not self-extricate.  One of them was seriously injured and identified as Tanya L. Captain, 34, of Darien.

The other passengers were Shawn M. Kwiatek, 43, of Darien, and Steven N. Zink, 30, of Darien.

Captain was transported to Erie County Medical Center by Mercy Flight Central, which was filling in for Mercy Flight of WNY, presently standing down following a fatal accident earlier this week involving one of its helicopters.

At the time of her transport, Captain's injuries were considered life-threatening.  The Crash Management team responded to the scene because of the seriousness of the injuries to Captain.

"Right before she got loaded in a helicopter, she was talking with paramedics," said Sgt. Kyle Krzemien of Genesee County Sheriff's Office. "Right now we're still not 100 percent, but I would say for right now, we're just gonna go with life-threatening until we hear otherwise."

Krzemien said the vehicle was westbound on Erie Street when it crossed the double center line and hit an embankment before becoming airborne. The vehicle then struck a utility pole, shearing it from its base, and, because of the speed of the vehicle, continued southwest until it struck the front porch of a house at 1390 Erie St.  The driver then tried to drive out of the front yard of that house, going back East on Erie Street, and only getting 500 feet down the road before it stopped, the sergeant said. 

There was a power outage in the area that included the traffic signals at Route 20 and Route 77.  At the time of publication, 11 National Grid customers remained without power and power was not going to be restored before 4:30 a.m., according to National Grid.

Criminal charges are pending against Antonucci, according to the Sheriff's Office.  The investigation is ongoing.  

Darien Fire and Corfu Fire responded to the scene along with Mercy EMS.

(Initial Report)

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Top photo: A car after it struck a utility pole and a home on Erie Street in Darien Sunday evening, the damage caused by the accident, and Mercy Flight Central removing one seriously injured woman from the scene. Photos by Howard Owens.

Accident with pole and wires down, and injuries on Erie Street, Darien

By Howard B. Owens

A car has struck a utility pole in the area of 1390 Erie Street, Darien.

There are multiple injuries and two people require extrication.

There is at least one serious injury.

Responding units are asked to enter the scene from Tinkham Road because wires are down in the roadway.

Darien Fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 7:12 p.m.: An engine from Corfu is requested to the scene.  Dispatchers checking on availability of Mercy Flight

UPDATE 7:54 p.m.: Mercy Flight Central has landed near the scene.

UPDATE 8:03 p.m.: Mercy Flight has departed with one patient, and is headed towards Erie County Medical Center.

Two-car accident, unknown injuries, at Lewiston and Galloway, Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

A two-car accident with unknown injuries is reported at Lewiston Road and Galloway Road, Batavia.

Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 6:30 p.m.:Injuries appear to be non-serious. A second ambulance requested to the scene, non-emergency.

NTSB Official: It will take months to untangle all factors in Mercy Flight crash

By Howard B. Owens

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There have been nine accidents involving the Bell 429, the model helicopter being flown by James E. Sauer, 60 of Churchville, and Stewart M. Dietrick, 60, of Prosper, Texas, when it went down in a field near Norton Road in Elba at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board has determined the cause of four of those accidents.  Three of them were the result of human error and one was an apparent mechanical failure.

The preliminary evidence in Wednesday's crash of the Mercy Flight aircraft, said Aaron McCarter, air safety investigator with the NTSB, is that the rear tail section of the aircraft became detached during the flight.

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Aaron McCarter

"Onboard (the helicopter) were two pilots and seasoned professionals about 1300 or 1 p.m. local time, several credible witnesses of the helicopter transitioning the area behind me over Elba, New York, at about 2,000 feet observed and heard a loud boom. We don't know which occurred first (the tail separating or the boom). The tail separated from the helicopter and was found 300 feet from the main wreckage."

The main wreckage was in a gully just a few yards from the edge of Norton Road, about a mile north of Edgerton Road.

McCarter said he will be at the accident scene gathering evidence for three to five days.

"The on-scene portion of the investigation is only a small part of a much larger list, or process," he said. "Most of the work being done by the investigative team happens behind the scenes when the on-scene portion is over. In 10 days, I will be completing the preliminary report. In approximately 12 months, the factual report, followed very shortly by the probable cause, signed off by the Transportation Safety Board members (will be released)."

The cause won't be determined until the investigation is complete, and that investigation, regardless of what the evidence shows now, looks at all factors of the case, McCaster said.  That includes mechanical, environmental, and human elements, and how all three elements interacted.

While both Sauer and Dietrick are experienced pilots, they were on a training mission.

"Even though they are seasoned pilots, you know how much time they had in this particular helicopter?" McCarter said. "I'm not trying to equate aircraft with cars, but have you ever gotten to a car rental that was completely different than yours? It takes you a while to kind of figure out where all the buttons are and how how to maneuver. So that's what we're looking at, we're looking at their familiarity with the machine, how much experience did they have in this particular machine, in addition to all the other aircraft that they have flown."

Wreckage to be examined in Delaware
The wreckage, which was spread over a 2,000-foot area from beginning to end, will be transported to Clayton, Delaware.

"It will be transported back to this facility to a two-dimensional assembly of it on a hangar floor and we'll be able to see how the helicopter -- it can assist us in determining how the helicopter came apart and what happened first."

He added, "We will be doing a thorough engine check. We're gonna be checking on the rotor blades. We're gonna be checking the tail rotor. And we're gonna be downloading data."

While the Bell 429 doesn't have a "black box" as most people are familiar with -- its data isn't in a hardened protective case -- McCarter is confident the flight recorder data can be recovered.

Investigators will also look at flight and maintenance logs and any reports on the helicopter's performance on previous flights.

The aircraft was manufactured in Canada so by international treaty, Canadian aviation experts will be participating in the investigation.

McCarter indicated he doesn't believe there was anything of the ordinary for a training mission prior to the crash.  The mission started at the Genesee County Airport at 11:15 a.m. and the crew did a typical training flight pattern around the airport for about an hour before heading toward Elba.

Once the tail separated, McCarter said, the pilot would have found it impossible to maintain directional control over the aircraft.

"That tail rotor is what keeps the nose of the helicopter pointed in the correct direction," he said. "Because the torque when the rotor blades are spinning around the helicopter, the fuselage wants to spin in the opposite direction, if you remember your high school physics, so the tail rotor actually keeps the nose of the helicopter pointed in a specific direction."

Of the nine prior crashes involving the Bell 429, four claimed six lives.

Prior aviation crashes locally
Of the nine Bell 429 crashes, one was in Batavia on Oct. 6, 2021. That 429 was also owned and operated by Mercy Flight but was not the same aircraft involved in Wednesday's accident. There were no injuries when that helicopter had a hard landing at the Genesee County Airport.  The cause has not yet been determined.

There has been one other helicopter crash in Genesee County over the past 30 years. On Dec. 27, 2003, in Byron, when a pilot practicing autorotations over an airport open field made a hard landing. The pilot was seriously injured. 

The NTSB reported, "The pilot reported that he felt a shudder during the autorotation and tried to regain airspeed by using forward cyclic, but he was unable to regain airspeed. Examination of the helicopter found evidence of low main rotor rpm. No discrepancies were found with the flight controls and engine."

Previous airplane accidents, as reported by the NTSB, in Genesee County:

  • March 31, 1983, Batavia, Cessna 182, mechanical failure, four aboard, no injuries;
  • Sept. 24, 1983, Batavia, Cessna 152, an unexpected gust of wind on landing, two aboard, no injuries;
  • Oct. 7, 1984, Cessna 150H, pilot error at dusk, no injuries; 
  • May 17, 1985, Batavia. Piper PA-22-150, commercial-rated flight instructor encountered unexpected wind at takeoff, no injuries;
  • May 29, 1985, Batavia, Piper PA-28-235, loss of power during takeoff, two aboard, no injuries;
  • Oct. 15, 1986, Le Roy, Piper PA-38, instructor error, two aboard, no injuries;
  • June 20, 1987, Batavia, Cessna 177RG, mechanical failure resulting in an emergency landing, no injuries;
  • March 17, 1991, Le Roy, Cessna 172M, inexperienced pilot error in poor lighting conditions, four aboard, no injuries;
  • Feb. 15, 2004, Batavia, Cessna 172E, the inability of the pilot to maintain control in winds on an icy runway, no injuries;
  • June 15, 2007, Cessna 172s, student pilot error, no injuries;
  • Feb. 7, 2009, Le Roy, Cessna 172A,  pilot error in heavy winds, no injuries;
  • July 15, 2011, Batavia, Murphy Aircraft Elite, pilot error, one serious injury;
  • Aug. 2, 2012, Alexander, Piper PA-25-260, pilot error, no injuries;
  • Sept. 20, 2014, Bethany Center, Cessna 182A, pilot error, no injuries;
  • June 11, 2915, Le Roy, Brandt Leroy E Challenger II, pilot error, no injuries;
  • Oct. 27, 2019, Batavia, Beech A36, pilot error in heavy winds, four aboard, no injuries;
  • June 1, 2020, Le Roy, Beech 36, pilot error, no injuries.

The only other fatal aviation crash in Genesee County since the early 1980s was on Oct. 2, 2020, in Corfu, which claimed the lives of attorneys Steve Barnes and Elizabeth Barnes. The cause of that crash remains undetermined.

CORRECTION: There was another fatal airplane crash in Genesee County on Aug. 11, 2001.  Two people were killed when a Dominiak Kitfox crashed in Byron. Alcohol and drugs were found in the inexperienced pilot's blood.

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