On the Go: RSS | Email Alerts | Mobile and iPhone

Sub-Navigation

Phoenix Metro

Side Navigation

Marketplace
- Lifestyle Guides

Sub-Navigation

More News

	Alert: Democrat-controlled House narrowly passes health care bill

Print this Story

NTSB: Both pilots responsible in ABC15, 3TV chopper crash

Reported by: Katrina Wessman
Email: kwessman@abc15.com
Last Update: 1/28 6:39 pm

ABC15 pilot Craig Smith and photographer Rick Krolak and 3TV pilot Scott Bowerbank and photographer Jim Cox

Slideshow

ABC15 pilot Craig Smith and photographer Rick Krolak and 3TV pilot Scott Bowerbank and photographer Jim Cox

Related Links

Click the play button on the video window to the see the story

PHOENIX, AZ -- The National Transportation Safety Board met in Washington, D.C. Wednesday to release their final report on the July 2007 Phoenix helicopter crash that claimed the lives of four ABC15 and 3TV journalists.

The news helicopters collided over Steele Indian School Park on July 27th while helicopters from all five local TV stations were covering a police chase through central Phoenix.

ABC15 pilot Craig Smith and photographer Rick Krolak, along with 3TV pilot Scott Bowerbank and photographer Jim Cox, died in the crash.

NTSB officials said in the meeting they had determined the probable cause of the accident was both pilots’ failure to see and avoid the other helicopter.

Investigator-in-Charge Howard Plagens discussed the details and flight paths of both helicopters before the collision.

Photographs of the two helicopters were shown.

“The helicopters were dispatched to cover a police pursuit,” explained Plagens. “Three other ENG helicopters and police helicopters were operating in the area.”

Plagens said Channel 3 and Channel 15 pilots’ last communication with each other was four minutes before the accident.

A few minutes before the collision, Plagens said the ABC15 helicopter was at an altitude of 2,300 feet while the 3TV helicopter was at an altitude of 2,100 feet.

One minute before the accident, he said the helicopters’ flight paths over the ground were similar and the helicopters moved closer together.

Both pilots were reporting during the final minute of the flight, according to Plagens. He said the pilots’ attention was focused on the ground events, and one or both pilots lost awareness of the other helicopter’s position.

The exact positions of the helicopters at the time of the collision were not determined, however Plagens said the collision occurred when the rotor blades from both helicopters hit one another.

The pilots were listening to other helicopter pilots, police radios, news producers and photographers onboard while navigating the aircraft, according to statements made in the meeting.

Officials in the meeting also discussed pilot workload and whether this was an issue in the crash, along with possible additional guidelines, such as as implementing additional safety measures.