Two pilots died after their helicopters collided midair Sunday near Hammonton Municipal Airport in Hammonton, New Jersey, police said Monday, as federal aviation investigators examined the crash site. Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel identified the dead as Kenneth Kirsch, 65, of Carney’s Point, and Michael Greenberg, 71, of Sewell.
Friel said Kirsch was pronounced dead at an area hospital after being flown there, while Greenberg died at the crash site. Witnesses told police that the two helicopters were flying close together just before they crashed in a farm field near the airport, about 35 miles southeast of Philadelphia, according to the Associated Press report.
The Federal Aviation Administration described the collision as involving an Enstrom F-28A and an Enstrom 280C helicopter, and said only the pilots were on board. Rescuers responded to a reported aviation crash at about 11:25 a.m. Sunday, and police and fire crews extinguished flames that engulfed one of the helicopters, the report said.
The National Transportation Safety Board was examining the accident site Monday. The NTSB determined that the debris field was about 100 yards long and included parts of the main rotors and tail rotors, a spokesperson said, and both helicopters were expected to be removed from the site Tuesday and taken elsewhere for further review.
An initial or preliminary NTSB report is expected in about 30 days, the report said. Investigators were likely to focus first on communications between the two pilots and whether they could see each other, said Alan Diehl, a former crash investigator for the FAA and NTSB.
Diehl said midair collisions typically involve a failure to maintain “see and avoid,” and he said investigators would likely look at out-of-cockpit views to determine whether one pilot was approaching from a blind side. He said visibility appeared to be good at the time of the crash, despite mostly cloudy conditions, and that winds were light, according to AccuWeather.
Local residents and people connected to the pilots described routine activity near the airport before the crash. The report said Kirsch and Greenberg received their private pilot licenses in 2014 and often stopped for breakfast at a nearby Apron Cafe before flying.
Apron Cafe owner Sal Silipino told the Associated Press that Kirsch and Greenberg ate at the cafe shortly before the crash, and that patrons watched helicopters take off and were stunned when the aircraft fell. In remarks included in the report, Silipino described the pilots as “regulars” who “fly in together,” adding that they appeared to begin flights without incident.
Another Hammonton resident, Dan Dameshek, told NBC10 that he was leaving a gym when he heard a loud snap and saw two helicopters spinning out of control. He said the first helicopter flipped rapidly and then the second appeared to be OK briefly before both aircraft began spinning as they fell.
Hammonton, where the crash occurred, is a town of about 15,000 people in Atlantic County, in southern New Jersey. The area has a history of agriculture and lies near the Pine Barrens, a forested wilderness area that covers more than 1 million acres.
The NTSB’s preliminary findings will come after investigators finish documenting the wreckage and collecting evidence from the site and related aviation records, officials said.