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NTSB Preliminary Report Details Formation-Like Flight Before Fatal New Jersey Helicopter Collision

Investigators cite surveillance video of a formation-like flight, noting no ADS‑B data for the final leg.

Overview

  • Surveillance footage reviewed by the NTSB shows two Enstrom helicopters flying closely in a slightly staggered pattern before converging and making contact near Hammonton, N.J.
  • The collision at about 11:24 a.m. in late December killed pilots Kenneth L. Kirsch, 65, and Michael Greenberg, 71, after a morning that began with departures from Vineland-Downstown at 9:48 a.m. and an arrival at Hammonton at 9:58 a.m.
  • Video indicates one helicopter entered a tumbling descent as the other briefly pitched up, then yawed clockwise and descended rapidly out of view.
  • The crash site lay about 1.5 miles southwest of Hammonton Municipal Airport with a debris path of roughly 1,211 feet, and paint transfer suggests the 280C’s tail rotor contacted the F-28A’s main rotor.
  • Investigators report no preliminary ADS‑B data for the accident leg; wreckage was recovered for further examination, weather was 10-mile visibility with light winds and a 1,400-foot overcast, and no probable cause has been determined.