Two people are dead after a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter crashed in Marion County Tuesday afternoon. The pilot was Sgt. Lee Russell, a veteran helicopter pilot for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The Marion County Deputy killed in the crash was Marion County Commissioner Matt Blansett. It happened around 4pm in a wooded area on Aetna Mountain near Whiteside, Tennessee. Before going down, the helicopter hit power lines causing them to fall across Interstate-24 at mile marker 163. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.