Authorities on Monday recognized two pilots who died after their helicopters collided midair in southern New Jersey.
Kenneth Kirsch, 65, and Michael Greenberg, 71, had been buddies who each lived in New Jersey and would typically have breakfast collectively at a restaurant close to the crash web site in Hammonton, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia.
Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel mentioned in a press release that Kirsch, of Carney’s Level, was pronounced lifeless at an space hospital after being flown there, whereas Greenberg, of Sewell, died on the crash web site.
“Statements from witnesses had the 2 helicopters flying shut collectively simply earlier than the crash,” he mentioned. “The crash web site was roughly a mile and a half from the airport in a farm subject.”
Investigators from the Nationwide Transportation Security Board had been on the web site Monday, authorities mentioned.
Friel mentioned rescuers responded to a report of an aviation crash at about 11:25 a.m. Sunday. Video from the scene reveals a helicopter spinning quickly to the bottom. Police and hearth crews subsequently extinguished flames that engulfed one of many helicopters.
The Federal Aviation Administration described the crash as a midair collision between an Enstrom F-28A helicopter and Enstrom 280C helicopter over Hammonton Municipal Airport. Solely the pilots had been on board every plane.
Sal Silipino, proprietor of a restaurant close to the crash web site, mentioned the pilots had been regulars on the restaurant and would typically have breakfast collectively. He mentioned he and different prospects watched the helicopters take off earlier than one started spiraling downward, adopted by the opposite.
“It was stunning,” he mentioned. “I’m nonetheless shaking after that occurred.”
Hammonton resident Dan Dameshek instructed NBC10 that he was leaving a health club when he heard a loud snap and noticed two helicopters spinning uncontrolled.
“Instantly, the primary helicopter went from proper facet as much as the other way up and began quickly spinning, falling out of the air,” Dameshek instructed the TV station. “After which it seemed just like the second helicopter was OK for a second, after which it appeared like one other snap or one thing … after which that helicopter began quickly spinning out of the air.”
Hammonton is a city of about 15,000 folks positioned in Atlantic County within the southern a part of New Jersey. The city has a historical past of agriculture and is positioned close to the Pine Barrens, a forested wilderness space that covers greater than 1 million acres (405,000 hectares).
Investigators will seemingly first look to overview any communications between the 2 pilots and whether or not they had been capable of see one another, mentioned Alan Diehl, a former crash investigator for the FAA and NTSB.
“Nearly all midair collisions are a failure to what they name ‘see and keep away from,’” Diehl mentioned. “Clearly they’ll be wanting on the out-of-cockpit views of the 2 plane and seeing if one pilot was approaching from the blind facet.”
Though it was principally cloudy on the time of the crash, winds had been gentle and visibility was good, in line with the climate forecasting firm AccuWeather.