Authorities have named the two pilots who tragically lost their lives in a mid-air collision between helicopters in southern New Jersey. Kenneth Kirsch, 65, and Michael Greenberg, 71, were close friends residing in New Jersey and shared a routine of having breakfast together at a local cafe near the crash site in Hammonton, located approximately 56 kilometers southeast of Philadelphia.
Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel confirmed that Kirsch was transported to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries, while Greenberg passed away at the scene of the collision. The incident involved an Enstrom F-28A helicopter and an Enstrom 280C helicopter colliding above Hammonton Municipal Airport, with only the pilots on board each aircraft, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Witnesses, including Sal Silipino, the cafe owner near the crash site, recounted seeing the helicopters take off before one began descending rapidly, followed by the other. Silipino described the event as shocking, leaving him visibly shaken. Hammonton, a town with a population of around 15,000 in Atlantic County, New Jersey, is known for its agricultural heritage and proximity to the expansive Pine Barrens wilderness area spanning over 405,000 hectares.
The FAA and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have been alerted and will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident, as stated by Chief Friel. Investigative efforts are expected to focus on analyzing communications between the two pilots and assessing their visibility of each other, according to Alan Diehl, a former crash investigator for the FAA and NTSB.
Diehl emphasized that most mid-air collisions result from a failure in visual detection, known as ‘see and avoid’ in aviation terminology. Weather conditions at the time of the collision were reported to be mostly cloudy, with light winds and good visibility, as per AccuWeather, a weather forecasting company.
