Pilot Survives Essex County Airport Helicopter Crash

IMAGE: Fairfield Police Department

June 4, 2022

• 12:04pm:
  2015 Bell Model 407 Helicopter crashed alongside New Dutch Lane in the grassy area near Runway 28 of Essex County Airport.
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• Fairfield Police, Fairfield Fire Department responded immediately along with EMS.
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• The helicopter is operated by Zip Aviation located at Essex County Airport; the company is best known for offering North Jersey and New York City air tours.

 "The lone pilot, a 33-year-old male from Marietta, Georgia,
was found still in the pilot seat,
partially leaning out of the cockpit.
Officers observed injuries to his head."
~ Fairfield Police Chief Anthony Manna

 "It appears that the pilot was taking off and
heading to pick up a private charter when the crash occurred.
A witness at the scene reported that the helicopter
may have been as high as 100’ to 150’ in the air,
when it began to spin, and then hit the ground."
~ Fairfield Police Chief Anthony Manna

• ​EMS on scene and Fairfield Police attended to the Pilot who was breathing but unconscious.
  
  
• There was no entrapment but fuel was actively leaking an unknown amount of fuel from the helicopter.
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• 12:05pm: West Essex First Aid Squad was dispatched and soon transported the patient to the hospital.
  
  
• 12:10pm: The Essex County Sheriff’s Office arrived and assisted; the airport was closed for the investigation.
   
• 12:28pm: Nutley HAZMAT was dispatched and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection was notified
  
  
• 12:30pm: Helicopter was secured.
  
  
• 1pm: Nutley HAZMAT arrived on scene.
  
  
• Members of the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Bureau will take over the investigation. 

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Full Press Release from Fairfield Police Chief Anthony Manna:
"On Saturday June 4, 2022, at approximately 12:04 PM, the Fairfield Police
Department received multiple 9-1-1 calls reporting a helicopter crash on the property of the Essex County Airport. Police, Fire and EMS were immediately dispatched to the scene.

First arriving officers found a helicopter on the ground on the north side of the airport near Runway #28. He was extricated from the helicopter and transported by the West Essex First Aid Squad to an area trauma hospital.
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Preliminary investigation indicates that the helicopter, a 2015 Bell Model 407, is operated by Zip Aviation located on the airport property. It appears that the pilot was taking off and heading to pick up a private charter when the crash occurred. A witness at the scene reported that the helicopter may have been as high as 100’ to 150’ in the air, when it began to spin, and then hit the ground.

The area around the helicopter was secured pending the arrival of the Nutley Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Team to help deal with a fuel spill and the arrival of investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Bureau. At the time of this release, the airport remained closed to Assisting at the scene was the Essex County Sheriff’s Department."