NTSB Preliminary Report Details Fatal Midair Collision at Carlisle Airport

The pilots of a Cessna 150 and a Pennsylvania State Police Bell 407 helicopter were in radio contact before their midair collision near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The accident happened August 19 just before 7 p.m. EDT over Carlisle Airport (N94), west of Harrisburg.

A witness told investigators he heard communications between the helicopter crew and the airplane pilot on the airport's Common Traffic Advisory Frequency. FlightAware data showed the Cessna had arrived from Harrisburg and was flying in the traffic pattern for Runway 28.

One of the helicopter pilots asked the airplane pilot to extend his downwind leg, and the airplane pilot acknowledged. This created more separation between the two aircraft.

The helicopter landed first and began a hover taxi about 1,800 feet down the runway, then moved to the right side of the runway over a grass field, nose pointing west. The Cessna was on low approach to Runway 28 when its wings rocked and it pitched up and rolled right, striking the helicopter's tail rotor and then main rotor.

Security camera video captured the collision. The helicopter hit the ground on its side but remained largely intact, and both occupants were injured but survived. The Cessna's pilot, its sole occupant, was killed as the airplane broke into four main sections.