American Eurocopter Corp AS350B2 accident near Hammonton, NJ
On December 20, 2023, an American Eurocopter Corp AS350B2 (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Hammonton, NJ. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- December 20, 2023
- Place
- Hammonton, NJ
- Aircraft
- American Eurocopter Corp AS350B2 · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.714°N, 74.688°W
- NTSB ID
- 20231220193546
Official records · ERA24FA069
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- N606hd - ATC Audio (Atlantic City Atct): Audio recording (WAV), on ntsb.gov
- N606hd - ATC Audio (Post Accident): Audio recording (WAV), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn December 19, 2023, about 2004 eastern standard time, an American Eurocopter AS350B2 helicopter, N606HD, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Hammonton, New Jersey. The pilot and videographer were fatally injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 ENG flight. According to the helicopter operator’s chief pilot, about 1923, the helicopter departed Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after being dispatched by the news station assignment desk to a scene 44 nautical miles to the south/southeast, in the Smithville, New Jersey area. This was the third flight of the day for the helicopter and crew, and a fixed-base operator at PNE had refueled the helicopter before the accident flight. The helicopter arrived on scene about 20 minutes later and began orbiting while collecting video footage for the news station. After about 10 minutes on scene, the news station assignment desk cleared the crew to return to PNE via radio. About 2200, the news station assignment desk notified the helicopter operator that they had tried to reach the crew for another assignment but were unable to contact them by telephone. After the operator confirmed the helicopter had not returned to PNE, the operator took actions to obtain the time and location information of the last contact. The operator contacted state and local authorities with the last contact information, flight route information, and a possible location obtained from internet-based ADS B tracking platforms. They also contacted the FAA
Probable cause
The helicopter’s gradual descent and impact with terrain for reasons that could not be determined.
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Browse: New Jersey
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
