As people across Kentucky honor the passing of former Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones, two former state troopers have been reflecting on a day they will never forget.
On August 7, 1992, retired Kentucky State Police detective Sam Hawkins was trying to find what he thought was a Kentucky National Guard helicopter that had gone down. It was reported to have crashed along the Franklin and Shelby County line near I-64. Hawkins and Trooper Keith Roberts were taken aback by what they found.
"I was pretty shocked to see that it was blue and white, which indicated it was a civilian helicopter," Roberts said.
"When I got over that last hill and saw blue and white, I'd been around that helicopter too many times. I realized that's what it was," Hawkins said.
"When I saw that it was civilian, I immediately recognized it as being the governor," Roberts said.
The state helicopter flying Governor Brereton Jones and several others had lost control and crashed. An NTSB report said an unlatched panel on the engine came open and hit the rotor blades and the tail rotor driveshaft. The governor himself recalled the event in a documentary by Office of the Governor Creative Services and KET.
"I said, 'Danny, let's hold hands and let's pray because there's only one way out of this,'" Jones recalled.
"I think that crash came so I could really put my focus where it ought to be and that is on the most important things in life," he continued.
As the pilot performed an emergency autorotation landing, the chopper ended up in hilly terrain against a tree. There were some injuries, but none life-threatening.
"In the haze of 31 years, I remember how impacting it was to see the Sikorsky on the ground crashed, and thank God, everybody survived," Hawkins said.
"It's remarkable that they survived. If you've seen those pictures, you can see that that helicopter, when it crashed, it collapsed down on itself and more or less pushed everybody out the sides," Roberts said.
More than 30 years after the day they'll never forget, Hawkins and Roberts also remember how much Jones meant.
"He did good things for the state police. He really liked the state police and supported the state police and that's one of the things that I think will be his legacy, as far as talking to any troopers who served during that time. He was an advocate for the state police," Roberts said.
