A midair collision in Cabazon, California in August involving two on-duty contracted Cal Fire helicopters, one of which crashed and killed the three men on board, was the result of one aircraft colliding with the other in mountainous terrain, with the pilots apparently not aware of where they were in relation to each other.
According to City News Service, the National Transportation Safety Board on Friday released its preliminary report on the August 6 crash that destroyed a Cal Fire Bell 407 helicopter en route to a fire just south of Interstate 10 in the area of Apache Trail and Pipeline Road.
Cal Fire Assistant Chief Josh Bischof, 46, of Menifee, Cal Fire Capt. Timothy D. Rodriguez Jr., 44, of San Jacinto and contract pilot Tony Sousa, 55, of Red Bluff were killed in the accident.
Aviation International News reported that the Sikorsky S-64E Skycrane was descending when the collision occurred. The Bell 407 — a derivative of a LongRanger — was was flying in an observer-coordinator role. The two aboard the Siller heavy helicopter were uninjured; they were able to land the Sikorsky and walk away.
Both aircraft were under contract to Cal Fire and were part of the late afternoon initial attack response to the Broadway Fire west of Palm Springs. “The Sikorsky landed nearby without further incident,” reads the report. “The right main landing gear tire was damaged, with an approximate 12-inch portion not located.” (It’s likely that a foot-long piece of the snorkel was missing, not the landing gear.)
Both aircraft had taken off from nearby Hemet, 11 miles southwest of the fire, with the 407 airborne approximately three minutes ahead of the S-64. The two helicopters flew different routes around mountainous terrain toward the fire, and ADS-B data showed both helicopters on a converging flight path until the time of collision west of the fire.
To be clear, the NTSB report does NOT SAY “the S-64 was descending when it collided with the Bell 407”. It specifically says “On August 6, 2023, about 1844 Pacific daylight time, a Bell 407, N555AS, and a Sikorsky S-64,
N4037S, collided midair near Cabazon, California.”
It is just as likely that the Bell 407 was transitioning across the valley when IT collided with the descending S-64.
The NTSB is not assigning blame to either helicopter and to infer otherwise is an injustice to everyone involved.
Thank you very much for that, Jay. I fixed it.