Pilot killed in South Brunswick helicopter crash identified as 44-year-old Josef Yitzhak, of Israel
SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- The pilot who died Thursday when a helicopter crashed in South Brunswick, New Jersey has been identified as 44-year-old Josef Yitzhak, a citizen of Israel.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said the chopper left Princeton Airport just before 3:15 p.m. and appeared to quickly go out of control before crashing into a canal near Carnegie Lake, about 3 miles away.
"About 30 seconds before the helicopter experienced a catastrophic failure, it was going out of control. We have witness statements saying it was flying erratically. We have photographic evidence saying that it was taking some pretty steep turns and spinning. As that was happening, the main rotor blade struck the tail boom. The helicopter was at an unusual attitude at the time and the rotor blade struck the tail boom, severing the tail into three separate pieces and then the rotor blades also struck the canopy ahead of him. The helicopter is a very complex piece of equipment, a lot of moving parts," said NTSB Air Safety Investigator Aaron McCarter.
The NTSB will remain at the scene for another two to four days, depending on how difficult it is to recover the helicopter.
A salvage team that specializes in aviation extraction was en route from Delaware. They'll have to be diligent in the recovery.
"The water is not exactly the safest to be traversing. There's some algae blooms and bacteria in the water, so we're doing our best to recover the wreckage first before we dig into it," said McCarter.
Yitzhak was a seasoned pilot overseas, but it was not immediately clear how much experience he had flying helicopters.
This particular flight was registered as a solo flight. Officials said Yitzhak was supposed to be in town for just 10 days and was getting in some flight time.
The NTSB will investigate the environment, weather, air traffic control at the time of the crash and how they interacted with each other.
They'll also look at videos and pictures from witnesses, like Beverly Tereshko.
"It was just spinning. Yeah, it was spinning, like a tail spin and, the wind was pretty bad yesterday," said Tereshko, of South Brunswick. "I don't want to talk too much about it, for the family's sake. I know they're hurting. I sent my prayers and love to each and every one of them, his mother, his sisters."
NTSB officials said the full investigation could take a year to complete. A preliminary report could be released in five to 10 days.