Helicopter Scares in New York, Philadelphia

The three people who were on board a WNBC-TV helicopter are counting their lucky stars after the aircraft slammed into one building and fell onto another Tuesday evening. Neither the reporter nor the two crew members on board was seriously hurt.

"I could hear boop, boop, boop, like the sound of a motorcycle, but real loud," said Roger Green, who lives about a block from the Brooklyn (NY) crash site. "So I looked out the window, and it was spinning around out of control. And then it dropped down behind some trees."

The crew aboard Aerospatial AS-350 had just completed a live report on a shooting when the helo began to spin and pitch out of control.

It was the second major crash involving a WNBC aircraft since 1986. Then, traffic reporter Jane Dornacker was killed when the helicopter she was flying in crashed into New Jersey's Hackensack River.

Too Close For Comfort

Hours after the WNBC chopper went down, another news helicopter, flown for KYW-TV in Philadelphia, had an uncomfortably close encounter with a Piper Warrior. The news helicopter was covering a fire in northeaster Philadelphia when its pilot had to maneuver abruptly to avoid the fixed-wing aircraft.

KYW reports the single-engine aircraft was flying without navigation lights and was unresponsive to radio calls.

Police say the aircraft had taken off earlier in the day from Camden County Airport in Berlin (NJ). Upon landing there later in the evening, the pilot was surrounded by police officers and searched. There's no word on his identity or on charges he might face.

FAA Preliminary Accident Report

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 4NY        Make/Model: AS50      Description: AS-350/550 ECUREUIL, ASTAR, SUPERSTAR, F
  Date: 05/04/2004     Time: 2230
  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Serious     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
  City: BROOKLYN                    State: NY   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
A HORSHAM VALLEY AIRWAYS, N4NY, AS350BA AEROPATIALE ROTORCRAFT CRASHED ONTO A ROOFTOP OF A BUILDING WHEN IT EXPERIENCED A TAIL ROTOR PROBLEM, THREE PERSONS ON BOARD SUSTAINED SERIOUS INJURIES, THE ACFT WAS DESTROYED, BROOKLYN, NY

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   2     Fat:   0     Ser:   2     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   1      Fat:   0     Ser:   1     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:           Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
WEATHER: SPECI JFK 042229Z31014G20KT 10SM FEW065 BKN250 15/M03 A2996
OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Maneuver      Operation: General Aviation
  Departed: UNK                         Dep Date:    Dep. Time:     
  Destination: UNK                      Flt Plan: UNK          Wx Briefing: U
  Last Radio Cont: UNK  Last Clearance: UNK
  FAA FSDO: FARMINGDALE, NY  (EA11)               Entry date: 05/05/2004

FMI: www.ntsb.gov