2nd Pilot Dies In South Jersey Helicopter Collision, Officials Say

HAMMONTON, NJ — The second pilot involved in Sunday's helicopter collision in South Jersey has died, authorities announced.

Kenneth Kirsch, 65, and Michael Greenberg, 71, were friends who both lived in New Jersey and would often have breakfast together at a cafe near the crash site in Hammonton, according to officials.

Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel said in a statement that Kirsch, of Carney’s Point, was pronounced dead at an area hospital after being flown there, while Greenberg, of Sewell, died at the crash site.

“Statements from witnesses had the two helicopters flying close together just before the crash,” he said. “The crash site was approximately a mile and a half from the airport in a farm field.”

An Enstrom F-28A and an Enstrom 280C crashed in mid-air around 11:25 a.m. Sunday near the Hammonton Municipal Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Only the pilots were on board, the agency said.

Video from the scene shows a helicopter spinning rapidly to the ground. Police and fire crews subsequently extinguished flames that engulfed one of the helicopters.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were at the site Monday, authorities said. A preliminary report is expected to be released within 30 days.

Sal Silipino, owner of a cafe near the crash site, said the pilots were regulars at the restaurant and would often have breakfast together. He said he and other customers watched the helicopters take off before one began spiraling downward, followed by the other.

“It was shocking,” he said. “I’m still shaking after that happened.”

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.

“Immediately, the first helicopter went from right side up to upside down and started rapidly spinning, falling out of the air,” Dameshek told the TV station. “And then it looked like the second helicopter was OK for a second, and then it sounded like another snap or something ... and then that helicopter started rapidly spinning out of the air.”

Investigators will likely first look to review any communications between the two pilots and whether they were able to see each other, said Alan Diehl, a former crash investigator for the FAA and NTSB.

“Virtually all midair collisions are a failure to what they call ‘see and avoid,’” Diehl said. “Clearly they’ll be looking at the out-of-cockpit views of the two aircraft and seeing if one pilot was approaching from the blind side.”

Although it was mostly cloudy at the time of the crash, winds were light and visibility was good, according to the weather forecasting company AccuWeather.

The Associated Press and Patch Editor Anna Schier contributed to this story.