Crash kills owner of Boulder City flight school

HOSSTON, La. -- Two people died when their refurbished helicopter crashed in dense woods in rural northwest Louisiana during a trip from Florida to a Nevada flight training school owned by one of the occupants.

Caddo Parish Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Chadwick identified them as Jeffery Daniel Legro, 24, and Joseph Benjamin Grammer, 36, the owner of Leading Edge Rotor Craft in Boulder City.

People near Hosston reported hearing a low aircraft and then a crash Wednesday night, Chadwick said.

Legro and Grammer picked up the Fairchild-Hiller 1100 on Wednesday from Van Nevel Helicopters in Century, Fla., sheriff's Lt. John Fourcade said. The National Transportation Safety Board planned an investigation.

Leading Edge Rotor Craft offers helicopter flight instruction. An employee who answered the telephone Thursday declined to comment in depth about Grammer.

"He was a great guy to work for," the employee said.

The Review-Journal contributed to this report.