Originally published at: Cessna 150, Police Helicopter Collide in Pennsylvania
Airplane pilot killed; two state police crew members survived Wednesday evening collision at Carlisle Airport.
According to the ADS-B data, the helicopter was landing, not hovering. Maybe hovering off to the side to exit the runway, but just landed at any rate.
This might be a situation where the 150 pilot lost control due to the helicopter’s rotor wash. When a helicopter is hovering within a blade length of the ground, the rotor wash is very strong and spreads out at ground level in a donut shape. It’s strong enough to lift the wing of a nearby 150, which is a light two-seat airplane, and flip it. That could cause the landing pilot to veer into the helicopter. I’ve personally experienced this effect on a Cessna 185F parked on the ramp with a Eurocopter med-evac helicopter coming in for a landing over the ramp. Airplane pilots are not always alert to the rotor wash produced by a hovering helicopter and that may have been the case here.