Crime & Safety

Metropolitan Mosquito District Grounds Sprayers after Wednesday's Fatal Crash

A St. Charles man who took off from Eden Prairie's Flying Could Airport was killed near the Oakdale/Maplewood border Tuesday morning. Now, authorities are calling off spraying sortes despite the fact health officials are warning of a buggy summer.

(This story was written by Mike Schoemer.)


As authorities continue to investigate a Wednesday morning helicopter crash near the intersection of Seventh Street and Century Avenue in Maplewood, just east of the Maplewood Nature Center and near that city's western border with Oakdale, the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District said Thursday it was grounding all flights.

The Maplewood Police Department has confirmed that the pilot died in the crash, according to the Star Tribune. Killed was pilot Michael Kramer. The St. Charles, MN man was an employee of Scott’s Helicopter Services.

The helicopter was found next to a detached garage at a home on the 2700 block of Seventh Street and both were on fire, according to Lt. Kerry Crotty with the Maplewood Police Department.

Sprayers are normally flown by a solo pilot, and do fly low to the ground after making high, banking turns. The chopper was under contract to spray for mosquitoes in Maplewood, a Metropolitan Mosquito Control District spokeswoman told KSTP.

On its Facebook page, the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District said:

MMCD has temporarily suspended helicopter operations, and the National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation into the crash. 

The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District has worked with Scott's Helicopter Services for more than 20 years. Our thoughts and prayers are, of course, with the pilot’s family, friends, and colleagues.

The grounding comes after one of the state’s wettest months of May on record. State Department of Health workers are saying mosquitoes, ticks and ants will be out in full force this summer, after last year’s sharp decline due to drought.

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Residents here have noticed the effects of the first mosquito hatch, which happened with last week’s much warmer temperatures.

Ticks are also on the rise, MDH said.

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"Based on what we're seeing, we expect the highest risk period for tick-borne diseases to occur over the next few weeks in Minnesota," said David Neitzel, tick-borne disease specialist with the Minnesota Department of Health. "We expect that risk will be high again this year, especially in those places that historically are high risk for tick-borne diseases." Those areas include wooded or brushy areas in southeastern, central and north central Minnesota.”

 Oakdale Patch editor Kris Janisch contributed to this report.


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