Authorities are investigating a crash involving two helicopters near Hammonton
Municipal Airport in New Jersey on December 28th. According to the FAA, an Enstrom
F-28A helicopter and Enstrom 280C helicopter collided mid-air near the
airport. Investigators say the pilots were the only people on board each aircraft.
Podhurst Orseck aviation attorney Pablo Rojas told LiveNOW from FOX anytime there
is a midair collision, investigators look to what kind of communication failures may have
caused the crash.
“We represent victims of plane crashes and helicopter crashes and have worked on a
lot of them over the years and often say when a tragedy like this happens it is not
enough for one thing to go wrong, multiple things probably went wrong, but certainly
one of them was a failure of communications,” said Rojas.
Hammonton Police identified the pilots as Kenneth Kirsch and Michael Greenberg. They
told local news outlets Kirsch and Greenberg were friends who would often have
breakfast together at a café near the crash site.
Attorney Pablo Rojas also spoke to NBC10 Philadelphia hours after the tragedy and
explained Hammonton Municipal Airport is an uncontrolled airport, meaning there is no
air traffic control tower.
“When aircraft fly to or around uncontrolled airports they are responsible for
communicating with one another through radio as opposed to air traffic control,” said
Rojas.
Rojas added helicopters are very delicate pieces of machinery.
“When you see a helicopter spinning like that, it is very hard for any pilot to recover. It is
unclear right now if there was a rotor issue, but that will certainly be looked at by
investigators.”
The investigation into the cause of the crash will be led by the NTSB, with the
assistance of the FAA.
