Aviation Expert Points to Mechanical Fault in Pennsylvania Plane-Helicopter Crash

An aviation expert who reviewed footage of a mid-air collision at a small airport in central Pennsylvania believes a mechanical failure may have caused the Cessna aircraft to veer into a state police helicopter, resulting in a fatal crash.

John Cox, a former airline pilot and CEO of Safety Operating Systems, said the video shows the Cessna's nose pitched unusually high while the aircraft drifted to the right — a trajectory no pilot would intentionally take with a helicopter in the vicinity.

"My first thought was very tragic, particularly to the people in the helicopter," Cox said. "They were just doing their normal things and all of a sudden this aircraft hit them."

The collision, which occurred on Wednesday night, killed the pilot of the Cessna and left two state troopers aboard the helicopter injured.

Cox noted that collisions between fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters are rare, as the two types of aircraft typically operate at different altitudes and along different flight paths. He added that investigators will likely examine all possible factors, including whether the helicopter's rotor wash could have influenced the plane's movement.