Second pilot involved in New Jersey helicopter crash dies, both victims identified by police
A second helicopter pilot seriously injured in a mid-air collision in South Jersey died from his injuries, police said Monday. The other pilot involved in the accident died instantly.
Hammonton police identified the pilots as Kenneth L. Kirsch, 65, of Carney’s Point, New Jersey, and Michael Greenberg, 71, of Sewell, New Jersey. Police said Kirsch was piloting an Enstrom model F-28A helicopter and was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition after the crash.
Police say Kirsch died of his injuries at the hospital.
Greenberg, who was piloting an Enstrom Model 280C, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash near Basin Road and White Horse Pike in Atlantic County. The pilots were the only people on board the two helicopters, the Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday.
Both helicopters had taken off from the Hammonton Municipal Airport shortly before the collision at 11:25 a.m. One of the helicopters was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating the accident.
NTSB investigators were back at the crash site early Monday to document the debris field, which the agency said is about 100 yards long. An NTSB spokesperson said the two helicopters would be removed from the site Tuesday and taken to a “secure location” where they would continue to be examined by investigators. A preliminary report is expected within the next 30 days.
“I just told him everything would be fine.”
After the crash, CBS News Philadelphia spoke with Caitlyn Collins, who said one of the helicopters landed in her backyard. Collins said she ran toward the wreck and stayed with Kirsch, who later succumbed to his injuries, as first responders rushed to the scene.
“I just held his hand, I just told him everything was going to be okay and everything was okay, and I told him – you know, you could hear the sirens – I said, they’re coming for you,” Collins said.
Other neighbors in the area helped direct emergency crews as they arrived at the crash site.
In a social media post, New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill said: “My heart is broken for the family of the pilot killed in yesterday’s fatal helicopter crash in Hammonton. I pray for the full and speedy recovery of the other injured pilot and am grateful to the first responders on the ground.
Sherrill is a former Navy helicopter pilot.
This is a developing story.
