A fire helicopter crew didn’t follow Cal Fire protocol before crashing into another helicopter, killing three people above a Cabazon wildfire in 2023, according to a report federal officials published Thursday, Sept. 11.
The crew of the Sikorsky S64 “Skycrane” responding to the Broadway fire on Aug. 6, 2023, failed to contact a supervisor before flying above their approved altitude and then descending rapidly into congested airspace, where the helicopter crashed into a Bell 407 spotter helicopter also responding to the fire, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
All three people aboard the Bell died in the crash, including Riverside County Assistant Chief John Bischof, 46, who had 24 years of fire service; Capt. Tim Rodriguez, 44, who had 19 years of fire service and pilot Tony Allen Sousa, 55, who worked for Air Shasta Rotor & Wing in Redding. The Skycrane landed safely with two people on board.
Gary C. Robb, a Kansas City-based aviation attorney representing Rodriguez’s and Bischof’s families, said he is satisfied with the NTSB’s findings. The report’s publication allows him and his clients to move forward with wrongful death lawsuits that were previously filed in Riverside County.
In his aviation law career, Robb said, he’s never seen a case where one helicopter crashed on top of another. Through litigation, he and his clients hope to prevent a similar crash from happening again.
“They just want accountability,” Robb said, “and also to let those responsible understand number one the significance of what they did and learn from it and have others learn from it.”
According to the NTSB’s investigation, Cal Fire requires helicopter crews to get supervisor permission before entering the 12-nautical mile and seven-nautical mile ring when they respond to a fire. Both helicopters couldn’t get clearance before entering the 12-nm ring, likely because of mountainous terrain in the area, and instead moved to have a better connection for radio transmission before entering the 7-nm ring, according to the report.
The Bell crew made a 360-degree turn to establish communication with supervisors before entering the 7-nm ring and descended to the approved maximum altitude, where the helicopter stayed in flight until the crash, the report said.
The Skycrane flight crew tried to contact supervisors but continued flying about 30 seconds into the 7-nm ring before they received clearance. Supervisors approved the Skycrane for a maximum altitude of 2,500 ft. above sea level and warned the crew of other aircraft and hazards in the area, the report said.
The Skycrane was already in flight about 1,500 feet above its approved maximum altitude when the flight crew acknowledged the clearance but continued to climb another 300 feet, likely to avoid terrain, according to the NTSB.
After flying over mountainous terrain, the Skycrane quickly descended to its approved altitude, which it reached about three seconds before colliding with the Bell at a slight right descending turn. According to the NTSB, the Skycrane pilot should have told supervisors that the helicopter couldn’t comply with its maximum altitude clearance because of the terrain and should have told supervisors of the aircraft’s rapid descent.
The crash prompted an explosion, and the Bell 407’s tail boom, main rotor, mast and transmission separated from the aircraft. What remained of the aircraft continued in the direction of the flight path until crashing into terrain.
Cal Fire assisted NTSB with its investigation and said it has implemented policies to help make air response efforts safer. Some of the changes include a comprehensive training program for contract helicopter pilots, daily after-action reviews led by supervisors, immediate reviews following violations of policies or procedures and a standardized Fire Traffic Area checklist with instructions for entering these zones distributed to Cal Fire flight crews, contractors and training programs.