Nick Fulton, of Excel Helicopters, LLC, gives the all-clear signal to his father, Tim Fulton, on Tuesday, August, 11, 2020, before taking off with 100 gallons of a concoction he will spray on about 50 acres of soybeans on a farm in Hawk Point, Mo. The dispersal tanks on the helicopter were filled with a mixture of fungicide, fertilizer and insecticide from a mobile tank and landing pad; which can follow the refurbished 1976 MD-500 over miles of farmland. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
ALTON — One of the victims of Thursday’s deadly helicopter crash near Alton was a pilot who worked with his father at their helicopter company.
The other was a utility lineman and fisherman with a “radiant presence.â€
Nicholas Fulton, 35, of Salem, Missouri, and Michael Cody Curry, 37, of Ashley, Illinois, were in the helicopter that struck power lines and crashed into a barge this week. No one else was in the helicopter.
Fulton worked with his father, Tim Fulton, at Excel Helicopters out of Salem.
Friends remembered Curry as a competitive fisherman and courageous and dedicated lineman, according to social media posts.
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Neither family could be reached for comment on Friday.
The two men were part of a crew working on power lines that cross the river, said Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman Cpl. Dallas Thompson.
The crash happened just after 11 a.m. about a mile and a half south of the Clark Bridge over the Mississippi River. Ameren confirmed a contractor and subcontractor were there repairing and replacing tower lighting and marker balls.
Ameren declined further comment Friday.
After flying into the power lines, the helicopter fell into a barge and caught fire. No one was on the barge when the helicopter crashed.
A witness told the Post-Dispatch Thursday that he was fishing as he watched the helicopter work. At one point, it carried two men suspended by ropes to the electrical tower.
Marker balls that get attached to electric transmission lines lie on the ground along the Mississppi River, near where two people died Thursday morning, Aug. 7, 2025 after a helicopter struck power lines, crashed into a barge and caught fire near Alton. Ameren confirmed a contractor and subcontractor were there repairing and replacing tower lighting and markers balls on power lines that cross the river.
Then the helicopter started making trips back and forth with supplies as the crews worked. Right before the crash, the helicopter was carrying a marker ball by a rope. The witness said he heard a loud “boom†and when he looked up he saw smoke billowing from the helicopter as it fell.
J.F. Electric, an Edwardsville-based company, said in a statement that the crash involved one of its employees and a subcontractor. The company said that it would not release additional details out of respect for the family’s privacy, and that it is cooperating with authorities as they conduct their review of the incident.
The company declined further comment.
Excel Helicopters’ website , started Excel in 2015. Tim worked as president and chief pilot, and Nick worked as vice president and pilot.
Nick Fulton managed maintenance, procurement, billing, customer relations, and more for Excel, according to his biography. The helicopter company offers aerial photography services, crop spraying, and aerial vegetation cutting for powerlines, pipelines and railroads.
Before he helped form the helicopter company, Nick Fulton worked in commercial construction and then for O’Reilly Auto Parts in Springfield, Missouri, the biography says.
“Nick was soon recognized as someone with integrity and an aptitude for quickly learning company systems,†it says, adding he was proficient in machine work, welding and fabricating.
No one picked up the phone on Friday at Excel.
The St. Charles County Medical Examiner said that there is no other information about the men available at this time.
An Alton Fire Rescue boat leaves the scene of where a helicopter crashed onto a barge after hitting a power line on the Mississippi River just south of Alton on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025.
Nick Fulton, right, of Excel Helicopters, LLC, fills a large mobile tank on Tuesday, August, 11, 2020, with a concoction of fungicide, fertilizer and insecticide before his father, Tim Fulton, second from left, takes to the air to spray about 1200 acres of soybeans and corn from a farm in Hawk Point, Mo. The tank is beneath a helipad on a trailer, which can follow the refurbished 1976 MD-500 over miles of farmland for refilling. Shane Myers, left, and Jeff Bingham, second from right, are also pictured.Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
