WEYERS CAVE, Va. (AP) — Federal investigators say the crew of a medical helicopter didn’t see a small airplane before the two aircraft collided in the air near a rural airport in the Shenandoah Valley.
The National Transportation Safety Board says in a preliminary report that the helicopter’s collision avoidance system displayed two other planes in the area but didn’t alert the crew to the third plane.
The 1967 Cessna 172’s right wing was separated in the Dec. 31 collision and the plane crashed. The plane’s pilot and a passenger were killed.
The Eurocopter landed safely at Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport in Weyers Cave and three people aboard were uninjured.
WHSV-TV reported the federal agency’s preliminary findings Tuesday.
