Two helicopters have collision (Miami)

[tvpilot]

Pilot injured in helicopter collision at Homestead-Miami Speedway

The Associated Press
HOMESTEAD, Fla.
Two helicopters collided at the Homestead-Miami Speedway after the NASCAR championship Sunday, injuring one pilot, authorities said.

One helicopter was taking off from the speedway's helipad shortly before 9 p.m. while another was attempting to land, said Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Richard Martin.

"They had either a mid-air collision or a near-midair collision. One of them did a hard landing right on the helipad. No one on that craft was injured," Martin said.

The other pilot was airlifted to a hospital, he said.

Todd Shook, 46, of Sarasota, said he saw one helicopter's blades clip the body of the second helicopter as he was walking to his RV parked outside the speedway.

One helicopter landed lopsided on the speedway's helipad, and the other crashed into an RV parked nearby, he said.

"It just hit real hard, and then I saw the windshield all broken out. And the front of the RV is torn all to hell," Shook said.

It was not immediately clear if the RV was occupied at the time of the crash

[tvpilot]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/20/AR2005112001355.html

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3240978

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/1105/21nasnot.html

[B Sousa]

Strange that this thread is so silent. Anyone out there who knows who is involved and what were the conditions.........

[Heliport]

The pilot who lost his life was 24-year-old Johnny Campiglia of Pompano Beach.

RIP



Link (http://www.newszap.com/articles/2005/11/23/fl/lake_okeechobee/aok05.txt)

[Revolutionary]

There isn't a whole lot to say at this point. Operations at the Homestead Speedway during NASCAR events are pretty well organized, with a pilot's briefing several weeks before the event. All participants must attend and become signatories to an LOA in order to fly into the track. The Speedway operates a temporary ATC facility staffed by local controllers. It's normally a pretty straightforward and efficient traffic flow, with arriving aircraft lining up along a ditch Southwest of the track and departing aircraft curving around the East side of the track before heading North to Miami or South to Ocean Reef or the Keys.

How two aircraft could have found themselves landing at the same time is the big question here.

[widgeon]

I heard that both helicopters were dark coloured and the sun was very low in the sky at the time.

[widgeon]

No wonder the sun was low then :O .thanks for the info.

[flyheli]

According to the reports online it happend shortly before 8p.m. .. I don't think the sun disappears at 5 in FL?!

The setup at the race track is very professional and the pilot was experienced and safe.... it really hurts to hear something like that happend :-((

[warpig]

yes the sun does set that early in the winter.

[Galapagos]

Found this on the Vertical Magazine web site...


NTSB releases preliminary report on helicopter collision at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Wednesday, December 07, 2005 - Verticalmag.com


NTSB Identification: MIA06FA022B
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, November 20, 2005 in Homestead, FL

Aircraft: Eurocopter France EC 130 B4, registration: N130HS
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On November 20, 2005, about 2048 eastern standard time, an Aerospatiale AS350B helicopter (AS 350B), registered to and operated as a 14 CFR Part 91 positioning flight by Biscayne Helicopters, Inc., and a Eurocopter EC 130 B4 helicopter (EC 130 B4), N130HS, registered to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, and operated as a 14 CFR Part 91 positioning flight by HeliFlight, Inc., dba HelicopterShuttle.com, collided in flight while both helicopters were inbound to land at Motorsports Complex VIP Heliport (Speedway Heliport), Homestead, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for either flight. Both helicopters were substantially damaged, and the commercial-rated pilot of the AS 350B helicopter was not injured. The commercial-rated pilot of the EC 130 B4 helicopter was fatally injured. The AS 350B flight originated about 5 minutes earlier from Ocean Reef Club Airport, Key Largo, Florida. The EC 130 B4 flight originated at 2030 hrs, from Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport, Miami, Florida.

The pilot of the AS 350B helicopter stated that after departure he contacted Homestead Air Reserve Base (KHST) Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT), and advised the controller that he was inbound to the Speedway Heliport. The controller acknowledged his transmission and advised him to proceed direct to the Speedway Heliport. The controller also advised him they had no traffic advisory for him and frequency change to the "race control frequency" was approved. He contacted "race control" on frequency 134.3 mHz, and advised that he was 2 nautical miles southeast of the Speedway Heliport, inbound. He was advised to report when his flight was 1 mile south of the Speedway Heliport, to which he complied. He was advised to follow an Agusta 109 helicopter "...to the pad." The Agusta 109 helicopter at the time of his radio call was located just north of the westernmost pad at the Speedway Heliport, and was in a 5-foot hover. He was on a modified right base for landing to the east at the Speedway Heliport, and turned on to final where, "... shortly after that (I am not sure exactly how long) I felt a shudder and then the aircraft started to vibrate significantly (I do not remember my altitude or airspeed at that time)." He reported hearing the president of Biscayne Helicopters, Inc., advise over the frequency that there had been a midair collision. He performed a run-on landing on grass west of the helipads, and while the helicopter started to slow, it began turning and listing to the left. He began securing the helicopter when the main rotor blades began to slow, and exited the helicopter.

Numerous witnesses reported seeing the AS 350B helicopter flying southwest of the Speedway Heliport, and then turn to the east. Simultaneously, the EC 130 B4 helicopter was flying in an easterly direction, and was located west of the Speedway Heliport. The witnesses reported that the AS 350B was slightly higher and to the right of the EC 130 B4 helicopter when the collision occurred. The witnesses reported that the EC 130 B4 helicopter descended almost immediately, while the AS 350B helicopter continued flying in an easterly direction and landed at the Speedway Heliport.

According to the individual who was located at the Speedway Heliport and was providing "VFR advisory service" to inbound helicopters, the pilots of both helicopters announced they were inbound to the Speedway Heliport. He further stated that he had visual contact with the AS 350B helicopter, but he never had visual contact by landing or strobe light with the EC 130 B4 helicopter, which was on a straight-in approach landing to the east. The AS 350B helicopter was assigned to the west edge of the grass, and the EC 130 B4 helicopter was assigned to the West pad, which was confirmed by the pilot. He noticed the AS 350B helicopter was in a right turn at the time of the collision, and did not see the EC 130 B4 helicopter until the time of the collision. At the time of the collision, a helicopter was located on the east and center pads at the Speedway Heliport, and both were preparing to depart. He did not recall hearing the pilot of the EC 130 B4 helicopter provide a position report on his initial contact, and his impression was that the EC 130 B4 helicopter was "farther away."

Preliminary examine of both helicopters revealed all three main rotor blades of the EC 130 B4 helicopter were damaged; one of blades was missing approximately 11 inches and exhibited burgundy colored paint transfer on the leading edge of the blade at the fracture surface location. The left forward crosstube of the AS 350B helicopter had burgundy colored paint beneath the outer paint layer. Impact damage was noted to the left forward and left aft skid crosstubes of the AS 350B helicopter just above each "ankle."

[Ned-Air2Air]

Heres the helo in question. I shot it a few months ago.

http://www.helitorque.com/albums/album21/aga.jpg