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September 5, 2023

Tuesday

 NTSB: S-64 Descending as It Collided with Bell 407

A firefighting Sikorsky S-64 was descending when it collided with a firefighting Bell 407 last month near Cabazon, California. All three aboard the 407 were killed in the subsequent crash. The two aboard the S-64 were uninjured.

Both aircraft were under contract to Cal Fire and were part of an initial attack response to the Broadway Fire west of Palm Springs, California, just before dusk on August 6. A preliminary report from the NTSB found that the right main landing gear tire on the S-64 was damaged, with “an approximate 12-inch portion not located.”

Both aircraft had launched from nearby Hemet, California, 11 miles southwest of the fire, with the 407 taking off approximately three minutes ahead of the S-64. The helicopters took different routes around mountainous terrain to the fire. According to the NTSB, “ADS-B data showed both helicopters on a converging flight path, until the time of collision, located about 2 nm west of the Broadway Fire, at an altitude between 2,375 to 2,400 feet mean sea level (msl).”

The Board noted that a piece of delaminated main rotor blade marked the beginning of the 407’s debris path and that “the main rotor blades, mast, and transmission came to rest around 285 feet northwest of the main wreckage, upslope from the [initial impact point].”