The National Transportation Safety Board today released the findings from its investigation into the July 27, 2007, midair collision between helicopters from ABC15 and 3TV while covering a police pursuit. The pilots and photojournalists in both helicopters died.
Five Phoenix Electronic News Gathering helicopters were in the sky covering the story that afternoon. The report gives no indication that there was any confusion among the pilots prior to the crash. There is no indication of mechanical failure and toxicology reports on the pilots all turned up clean.
The investigators used video that each helicopter transmitted and even photos that showed the shadows of the helicopters on the ground to pinpoint where each helicopter was in the minutes prior to the collision.
By all indications, the crash happened because at least one pilot lost sight of another, although a final determination on the cause will come later. News chopper pilots watch each other and don't have to check every little movement through the flight control tower.
The report explains how pilots communicate during breaking news stories:
The pilots indicated that when they receive a call of an event, the helicopter(s) is dispatched. The first pilot to arrive on scene establishes a position. All aircraft are on the same discrete frequency (123.025), which law enforcement also monitors. As additional pilots enter the area, the pilots transmit their altitudes and positions to each other. If someone is going to change position, they transmit how and where they are changing. In the case of the accident flight, the other news pilots flying believed that the communication was adequate between the two accident pilots. When pilots are broadcasting live, they advise the other pilots on the local frequency, and depending on the length of the broadcast, will also notify the tower. During the broadcast, the pilot continues to monitor the common frequencies.
The pilots indicated that car chases were not a common occurrence in the Phoenix metro area. Many had been discontinued by the Phoenix Police Department due to safety concerns. Over the year leading up to the accident, they had covered about two car chases over the last 8 months, both commenced the week of the accident.
The pilots for all of the TV stations told the NTSB inspectors that some immediate safety improvements should include:
1. High-visibility main rotor and tail rotor blades
2. LED anti-collision strobe lights
3. Improved position lights
4. Annual meetings
5. HAI (Helicopter Association International) support
The report gives insight into the way news helicopters work. For example, the report says pilots often turned down their alert system that would warn them that another aircraft was nearby:
The Ch 3 helicopter had a SkyWatch® Traffic Advisory System on board. It worked when the Ch 3 chief pilot flew the helicopter earlier on the day of the accident. Turning it on was part of the power up checklist. He and the accident pilot both used it. It provided audio warnings and displayed targets on the helicopter's Garmin 430 navigation unit. If there was a lot of traffic in close, the Sky Watch system audio alert will emit a constant "traffic, traffic" advisory. After making positive visual and verbal contact on the air-to-air helicopter frequency with that traffic (pilot), sometimes they would turn the volume on the audio alert down lower than the air traffic control and air-to-air helicopter radio volumes so that the alert didn't overpower the communications frequency.
The report also said that pilots sometimes reported for television while flying the chopper. This collision opened up new conversations about how much TV stations are asking of pilots, whose main job should be to safely fly the aircraft, not be a live TV reporter and photographer AND fly the chopper. Now, TV stations are rethinking that and some put two pilots in the helicopter. The report said:
Ch 3 has changed their operation since the accident; they have two full time pilots plus one backup, and are adding other backups. One pilot flies with a photographer if they are just filming video. However, if the mission includes reporting, two pilots fly together, plus they have the photographer on board. One pilot reports, and the other pilot flies.
I was struck by how this investigation points out once again that eyewitnesses simply are not reliable. Look at this account from the NTSB report about how many versions of "the truth" investigators heard:
In summary, statements indicated that the accident helicopters were flying close together above the police helicopter during a car chase. Many witnesses could not discern which helicopter was CH3 (white with orange markings) and which helicopter was CH15 (dark in color). Some witnesses reported that the tail sections of each helicopter came together prior to the collision. Multiple witness reports indicated that CH3 was higher than CH15, several witnesses could not discern the helicopters' altitudes relative to each other, and some witnesses reported that the helicopters were at the same altitude when the impact occurred. Numerous reports indicated that CH3 was hovering, and CH15 was repositioning when it impacted CH3 on its left side and from below. Other witnesses reported that both helicopters were moving around at the time of the collision. Another witness indicated that CH15 was relatively stationary when CH3 entered the area and banked right in what appeared to be an evasive maneuver, prior to impacting CH15 on its right side. When the helicopters collided, some witnesses reported that their main rotor blades came together; others reported that the main rotor blades of CH15 impacted the skids of CH3. Several witnesses saw one helicopter come in front of the other helicopter. No witnesses reported any abrupt maneuvers, unusual sounds, or smoke and/or fire, prior to the collision. Multiple witnesses indicated that CH15 remained relatively intact, excluding the main rotor blades and that CH3 separated into many pieces, prior to descending to the ground.
Here is an excellent briefing paper for newsrooms on how to safely report from helicopters.
It's my hope that newsrooms will take a moment to...
