A midair collision between two small helicopters over Hammonton, New Jersey, on Sunday morning left one pilot dead and another fighting for their life. The crash occurred at approximately 11:25 a.m. near Hammonton Municipal Airport, an airfield located about 35 miles southeast of Philadelphia.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) identified the aircraft as an Enstrom F-28A and an Enstrom 280C. Only the pilots were on board the respective helicopters at the time of the impact. According to local police and witnesses, one of the helicopters caught fire upon hitting the ground, while the other crashed into a wooded area nearby. Responding fire crews were able to extinguish the flames, but one pilot was pronounced dead at the scene. the second pilot was airlifted to a regional hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses described a harrowing scene. Sal Silipino, a local cafe owner, noted that both pilots were regulars who often ate breakfast together before flying. He and other customers watched as the helicopters took off shortly before the collision. Another witness, Dan Dameshek, reported hearing a “loud snap” before seeing both aircraft spin out of control and fall rapidly from the sky.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched an investigation into the cause of the disaster. While visibility was reported as good at the time of the crash despite cloudy skies, investigators will focus on the “see and avoid” protocols and review any communications between the two pilots to determine how the aircraft ended up on a collision course.
