Helicopter recovered from Lake Cumberland 20 years after crash

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A helicopter that crashed into Lake Cumberland 20 years ago is once again seeing the light of day after it was found and recovered this week.

According to a report by LEX 18, the discovery was the result of searches by several people, organized by Alex Ashley.

"It was a crazy idea [I had] as a child," Ashley said. "It became a feasible idea five years ago."

Ashley said he was 10 years old when the helicopter crashed during a poker run in 2002. The helicopter was being used to film the event from above.

No one was hurt in the crash.

In his effort to find the downed chopper years later, Ashley turned to a friend, Landon Helm, who witnessed the crash.

Helm says he believed other search teams were all looking in the wrong spot, and he pointed out to Ashley where he saw the helicopter go down.

At that point, Ashley purchased a boat already equipped with specialized sonar equipment. He spent 18 hours scanning the lakebed. Last week, when the equipment picked up something, he brought in three Nicholasville firefighters: Jerry Stephens, Chris Money and Matt McDaniel.

The firefighters went SCUBA diving to find the wreck.

"It was surreal, definitely," Money said. "I had to touch it a couple of times to know it was real."

One of them brought something special back up to the shore for Ashley.

"They brought the pilot's headset up," Ashley said. "It was amazing. It was cool."

Slowly, using barrels filled with air to lift the helicopter, they started bringing it to shore Tuesday.

"It's pretty cool," Helm said. "You know, I was one of the last people to see it go down and one of the first to see it come up."

By sundown, the helicopter was out of the water. Ashley said he may place it in one of his businesses.