Two helicopters that crashed in southern New Jersey last month were flying in formation just before they collided, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NTSB report stated there was evidence that one helicopter clipped the tail rotor blades of the other.
The crash occurred at 11:24 a.m. ET on Dec. 28, about a mile from the Hammonton Municipal Airport. Both helicopters went down in a nearby field, with one bursting into flames.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the crash involved an Enstrom F-28A helicopter and an Enstrom 280C helicopter over Hammonton Municipal Airport.
According to the Hammonton Police Department, Kenneth L. Kirsch, 65, of Carney’s Point, New Jersey, died on Dec. 29. He was piloting the Enstrom F-28A helicopter and had been admitted to an area hospital in critical condition.
The other pilot, Michael Greenberg, 71, of Sewell, New Jersey, died at the scene.
NTSB issues the preliminary report for its ongoing investigation of the Dec. 28, 2025, midair collision between an Enstrom F-28A helicopter, and an Enstrom 280C helicopter near Hammonton, New Jersey. Download the report PDF: https://t.co/htIq1LpwTN
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) January 13, 2026
According to the preliminary report, the two helicopters initially took off from the Vineland-Downtown Airport in Vineland, New Jersey, at around 9:48 a.m. ET on Dec. 28 and landed at the Hammonton airport about 10 minutes later.
Police said that the two pilots were friends who would often have breakfast together at a cafe in Hammonton, a city located approximately 35 miles southeast of Philadelphia.
“I was talking to the customers and we looked up and I see one spiraling,” Sal Silipino, the owner of Apron Cafe, told WCAU. “I didn’t see them collide or anything. I see the one go down and then the other one go down. And at first I was a little bit in shock. Did they just crash? Was that real what I saw?
“And then it was all over. We saw all the smoke. It was terrifying.”
The helicopters were returning to Vineland when they crashed, according to flight plan data included in the report.
Surveillance video reviewed during the investigation showed the helicopters flying close to each other and slightly staggered, “similar to a formation flight,” the report stated.
Video posted online showed one of the helicopters spinning out of control seconds after the collision.
“As the flight continued, the helicopters converged until they contacted each other,” the NTSB wrote in its report. “Subsequently, one helicopter began a tumbling descent toward terrain before exiting the frame of the video.
“The other helicopter pitched up sharply before leveling out. Shortly after, the helicopter began yawing in a clockwise direction and descended rapidly until it exited the video frame.”
Officials discovered the debris from both helicopters included chipped paint from the other helicopter.
The NTSB said that the debris path was approximately 1,211 feet long. The main wreckage of one helicopter was found about 890 feet from the beginning of the debris field, while the second helicopter was approximately 270 feet from the first aircraft.
A full investigation into the cause of the crash could take up to a year to complete, officials said.
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