by: NPHM | July 22, 2011

New Jersey Helicopter Crash Critically Injures 2

July 22, 2011 A helicopter crashed in South Brunswick, New Jersey, on the morning of Wednesday, July 20, badly injuring a 27-year-old male pilot and 44-year-old female passenger. The helicopter went down about 100 feet from the Indian Fields Elementary School on Ridge Road, reports CentralJersey.com. “The first officer to arrive found the male and female occupants lying outside [of the helicopter],” said South Brunswick Police Seargant James Ryan. "There was no pre-warning that the helicopter was going to crash. We do believe that the pilot took evasive action to avoid striking the school.” The pilot and passenger were removed from the helicoter by elementary school workers. On Thursday afternoon both the pilot and passenger were listed in critical condition in the surgical intensive care unit at New Brunswick’s Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Both suffered serious chest and back injuries. The helicopter was reportedly rented from Nassau Helicopters—based at Princeton, New Jersey’s Princeton Airport—by the female passenger to shoot an overhead view of Dayton, Ohio. The woman owns an aerial photography business in Wilmington, Delaware. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are both investigating the crash. Read more. Do you think helicopters are especially dangerous? If you or someone you know has had their safety compromised on a commercial or private aircraft, contact the national aviation lawyers at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy.  

Photo courtesy of CentralJersey.com