In a tragic midair collision over Hammonton, New Jersey, a helicopter crash resulted in one fatality and left another person critically wounded, as reported by federal authorities.
Midair Collision Investigation Underway
Federal investigators are currently delving into the circumstances surrounding the collision of two helicopters in New Jersey, an incident that occurred yesterday, claiming the life of one pilot while leaving another with severe injuries. The incident unfolded just before 11:30 a.m. near the Hammonton Municipal Airport, situated roughly halfway between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. Despite cloudy weather, visibility was reportedly clear.
John Cox, a retired commercial airline pilot and aircraft accident investigator, remarked on the unusual nature of such collisions. “It’s very rare. It’s very rare. Helicopters fly under visual rules. Like an automobile, you see another helicopter, and you avoid that,” Cox explained.
Lack of Control Tower and Pilot Communication
The Hammonton Airport, a small facility lacking a control tower, relies on pilots using radios to communicate their movements. According to Cox, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will examine various factors, including pilot distraction, potential visual obstructions from the helicopters, and the pilots’ experience levels, to determine why the collision occurred.
Witness Accounts and Helicopter Dynamics
A witness shared video footage from a nearby parking lot that captured one of the helicopters spiraling downward into a field. Jeff Guzzetti, a former aircraft accident investigator with the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration, suggested that the tail rotor of the helicopter may have been damaged in the collision. “It appears that helicopter was hit on its tail because if you take out the tail rotor, the main rotor will cause the body of the helicopter to just turn round and round and round like a corkscrew,” Guzzetti stated.
Flight Path and Pilot Activity
The helicopters crashed approximately 200 feet apart. Both aircraft had taken off from the same airport earlier that morning and landed at Hammonton concurrently, as per the website flightaware.com. A local cafe owner at the Hammonton Airport mentioned to a Philadelphia ABC affiliate that the pilots had breakfast together earlier that day, and eyewitnesses reported to local police that the pilots departed in tandem.
This article was originally written by www.npr.org
