NTSB investigating data cards in deadly Carlisle collision between plane and helicopter

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Federal investigators have found what could be a critical clue in the deadly collision between a small plane and a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter earlier this week.

“We were able to get data cards off the Cessna 150 and the helicopter, so that is very good news from a data standpoint,” said Aaron McCarter with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Neither aircraft had a black box, but these data cards typically collect much the same information. It might reveal what happened in the moments before the crash at Carlisle Airport on Wednesday night.

McCarter described the position of the plane’s nose and wings as “unusual.”

“It was in a steep nose-pitched-up attitude, right wing low. The wings were rocking back and forth, then it temporarily leveled off and, for reasons unknown, flew off the right side of the runway, runway 28, and impacted the helicopter,” he said.

The police chopper was off the runway over the grass at the time.

The two troopers on board — Cpl. Pilot Bryce Corman and Trooper Pilot Jason Mills — were in the middle of a training exercise and were hurt. The plane’s pilot who was killed was identified as 57-year-old Paul William Sokoloski, of Hershey. He was a certified flight instructor and doctor.

The NTSB said there had been communication between the aircraft. There are no recordings, but there are witnesses who heard what was said over the radio.

McCarter said it’s too soon to know whether the chopper’s rotor blades might have disrupted the other aircraft.

“I’m having a weather study done, and I’m going to have a performance study done to determine that as well,” he added. “Rotor wash, just like wake vortices, is all dependent on weather, wind, temperature, things of that nature, how long the helicopter was over the runway, and how soon after the impact occurred.”

The wreckage is now in a facility in Delaware for investigators to conduct a detailed examination.