First responders tend to be police, fire or EMS workers. In this case, it was roofing contractors who were on the scene to help the victim of a helicopter crash.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports multiple people witnessed a helicopter crash into a cornfield in Waterloo, Ill. on July 22. Waterloo Police Chief Jeff Prosise said the department received an emergency call at 9:25 a.m., with the caller saying they saw smoke coming from the helicopter but no fire. Another caller said they saw pieces of the helicopter near homes in the neighborhood that borders the northern end of the field.

“He crashed kind of close to the yards, I don’t know, like 100 feet out into the field,” Prosise told the Belleville News-Democrat.

One of the residents in the neighborhood said he didn’t see the crash but “heard a noise that sounded like a motorcycle.” He said then saw “a bunch of roofers” run toward the crash, who were soon followed by firetrucks arriving around 9:30 a.m.

The Belleville News-Democrat spoke with one of the roofers, who identified himself a Carlos.

“We was taking a break and then we saw he wasn’t flying too high,” Carlos said. “He was going down, and we heard something loud, and we ran for him to see if he was okay or not.”

He told the Belleville News-Democrat that when they arrived, they saw the pilot was okay and offered to call 911. The pilot warned them to not touch the helicopter, even though there were no flames. Carlos said the pilot was “nervous and his body was shaking a lot.”

The Federal Aviation Administration will take over the investigation from local authorities.