While Cal Fire is assisting the National Transportation Safety Board with its investigation into the collision of two helicopters Sunday above Cabazon that killed three people, officials at the state firefighting agency also want to learn for themselves what protocols may have been violated.
The Bell 407 spotter helicopter took off for the 20-mile trip to the Broadway fire from Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base at 6:34 p.m., circling briefly while en route, followed by the Sikorsky S-64 “Skycrane” three minutes later. The helicopters, under contract to Cal Fire, collided over the fire at 6:45; the Bell crew died in the crash while the Skycrane landed safely with two aboard.
Four other firefighting aircraft, including a spotter airplane, were over the fire at the time.
Typically, said Capt. Richard Cordova, a spokesman for the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department, the spotter aircraft, known as an “air attack,” will arrive first. Then every other aircraft must call in for an assignment when it is 7 miles out. The spotter puts each at a specific level of airspace and calls in each one to make a drop. If an airplane is dropping, the spotter will move out the helicopters and call them back after the drop is made.
The spotters fly clockwise above other aircraft so they can more easily watch the water- or retardant-dropping aircraft that are flying counterclockwise.
“It’s a well-orchestrated event that takes place, and we respond to thousands of fires, and that ballet works seamlessly quite a bit of the time,” Cordova said Tuesday, Aug, 8.
The oddly-shaped Skycrane — picture a helicopter with no belly — has a long suction tube that can fill its 2,000-gallon tank in one minute. That tube, called a snorkel, hangs down continuously, Cordova said.
According to data on FlightAware.com, the spotter plane was, for reasons under investigation, at a lower altitude than the Bell moments before the collision.
“Once we figure out what actually happened, we make sure we enforce whatever rule was broken, or if there wasn’t a rule broken on that particular incident, we will create some sort of policy to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Cordova said. “We have an outstanding safety record. When something like this happens, the majority of the time it is human error and not mechanical, at least for us. Obviously, there was some type of miscommunication that took place, but it could have been multiple things (that went wrong).”
The pilot of the spotter airplane apparently witnessed the collision or its aftermath and contacted the Cal Fire dispatch center in Perris.
“Perris, Broadway air attack, I have a midair collision with two of the copters involving 37 Sierra and 5 Alpha Sierra. Like to request one additional air attack and two additional copters,” went the transmission, recorded on the Broadcastify public safety radio website.
The internal probe has not begun, Cordova, said. For now, he said, Cal Fire is focusing on planning three funeral services.
Killed were Riverside County Assistant Chief Josh Bischof, 46, who had 24 years of fire service; Capt. Tim Rodriguez, 44, who served 19 years; and pilot Tony Allen Sousa, 55, an employee of Air Shasta Rotor & Wing in Redding.
Federal Aviation Administration records show Sousa was licensed as a commercial pilot and flight instructor for helicopters and must wear glasses when at the controls.
Air Shasta, which does helicopter tours, sales, maintenance and flight training, said on its Facebook page: “It is an understatement to say that we are saddened, Tony was a great guy and a valuable member of our team. He will be greatly missed.”
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Tuesday praised the three men.
“Jill and I send our deepest condolences to the families of the helicopter pilot, and the brave California firefighters, who tragically lost their lives Sunday. Every day, firefighters run toward danger, while everyone else runs the other way, because being a firefighter is not what they do — it’s who they are. This tragedy is yet another example, of their incredible bravery,” a written statement said.
The Broadway fire was held to 3 acres. Cal Fire has a stated goal of holding 95% of brush fires to 10 acres or less, and such a large response was launched Sunday, Cordova said, because officials were concerned that the flames could enter Cabazon neighborhoods and climb the steep mountain face up to Idyllwild.
“Hit it hard and fast,” he said.
Source: Orange County Register
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