2nd Pilot Dies After Mid-Air Helicopter Collision. Woman Held Victim’s Hand and Told Him ‘Don’t Worry’

A second pilot has died following a midair collision involving two helicopters that crashed in New Jersey, authorities said.

On Monday, Dec. 29, officials confirmed that 65-year-old Kenneth L. Kirsch died at a hospital in Camden after the crash on Sunday, Dec. 28, according to a news release from the Hammonton Police Department.

Authorities were called around 11:25 a.m. Sunday after reports that two helicopters had collided shortly after departing Hammonton Municipal Airport. Police said the aircraft—an Enstrom 280C flown by Michael Greenberg, 71, and an Enstrom F-28A flown by Kirsch—struck each other in the air, sending one helicopter down in flames.

One aircraft slammed into a treeline, while the burning helicopter crashed into a field near the 100 block of Basin Road. Fire crews arrived quickly and extinguished the flames. Police said one pilot was assisted from the helicopter near the treeline. Kirsch was treated at the scene and then flown by medivac to a hospital, where he later died. Greenberg was pronounced dead at the crash site.

In an interview with FOX affiliate WTXF, Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel said the two pilots were believed to be friends who often ate together before flying.

“They apparently are friends, fly into the airport, have a meal together at the café and were leaving together. Friends,” he told the outlet.

Witnesses told police the helicopters were seen “flying close together” before the collision, the news release said.

After the crash, the owner of the restaurant where the men had stopped earlier described seeing them shortly before takeoff.

“They were just at our café having breakfast. They’re regulars — they come in every week or every other week,” Sal Silipino, owner of the Apron Café, told WTXF. “They fly in together. They seemed to be very nice people — very kind to all the workers and staff.”

Silipino said he watched in disbelief as both aircraft fell.

“We looked up, and I saw the one spiraling down. I didn’t see him hit,” he told the outlet. “Then I saw the other one go down. It was disbelief — like, is that really happening?”

A Hammonton resident, Caitlyn Collins, told ABC affiliate WPVI that one of the helicopters landed in her backyard. She said she, her husband and a neighbor—an off-duty police officer—ran to help.

“There was a man in there, he was conscious and breathing, and kind of just looking around,” Collins told the outlet. “The only thing I could think to do was hold his hand and talk to him, so I just laid in the ground next to him and was like, ‘Hey, we’re here, don’t worry.’ “

As of Monday, the lead investigator was examining the crash site, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said. The debris field—containing the main rotor and tail rotors—stretches about 100 yards, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson said both helicopters were expected to be recovered and moved to a secure location for further examination. A preliminary report is expected in about 30 days.

In a separate interview with WPVI, Friel noted that the outcome could have been worse given the fire.

“One of the helicopters burst into flames; luckily, there was not any industry or commercial buildings or populated areas it went down in,” he told the outlet. “It could have gone a lot worse, and there could have been a lot more loss of life.”