ABC News crew killed in helicopter crash had been filming Christmas lights in NJ
The ABC News helicopter that crashed Tuesday night in southern New Jersey, killing both men onboard, was flying home to Philadelphia after filming a Christmas lights display on the Jersey Shore, an official with the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.
The Chopper 6 carrying the two members of the ABC-affiliated WPVI Action News team — pilot Monroe Smith, 67, and photographer Christopher Dougherty, 45 — took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport earlier that day before crashing in a densely wooded area in Washington Township just after 8 p.m.
While the cause of the crash is still unclear, the NTSB has launched an official investigation into the incident.
“Preliminary air traffic control data shows the aircraft was on course at the time when the accident occurred,” NTSB investigator Todd Gunther told reporters in the agency’s first update on Thursday. “Tree strike images show it was in a descending pattern, in other words, it was descending when it impacted the trees.”
According to Gunther, an eight-member team of investigators will remain on the scene for about three days, “looking at anything that may have affected the accident flight or may have been causal.”
The team will scrutinize weather conditions, as well as the helicopter’s structure, flight history and maintenance data.
“Additionally, we’ll be looking at the physiology of the pilot onboard,” Gunther said.
After that initial phase, the agency plans to release a preliminary report within 10 to 15 days, including the “facts, conditions, and circumstances as we know it.”
