Pilot rescued from burning helicopter that crashed in woods in New Hampshire

People who heard a helicopter crash rushed to the site to help remove the pilot from the burning aircraft in a wooded area in central New Hampshire, police said Sunday.

The pilot was the helicopter's only occupant when it crashed into a residential property in Merrimack County, the New Hampshire State Police said in a news release. He was "conscious, breathing and alert" when authorities from various agencies arrived and transported him to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center with "serious but non life-threatening injuries," police said.  The pilot was not identified

The Hughes TH-55 helicopter went down Saturday afternoon about 30 miles northwest of the state capital, Concord, and caused a fire that was spreading to the woods before the arrival of firefighters, police said. An initial probe into the incident suggested that the pilot lost control of the helicopter near a landing site and subsequently crashed into the wood line of the property.