The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a preliminary report on the helicopter crash that took the lives of Cal Fire Assistant Chief and Idyllwild native Josh Bischof, Cal Fire Capt. Tim Rodriguez and contract pilot Tony Souza. The crash occurred while Bischof and Rodriguez were responding to the Broadway Fire, near Cabazon, Sunday evening, Aug. 6.

The report states that at 6:44 p.m., two helicopters assigned to the fire collided midair. The smaller craft, a Bell 407 registered as N555AS, was destroyed, and the larger, a Sikorsky s-64 registered as N4037S, landed safely with only minor damage to its landing gear.

The two helicopters took off from Hemet Ryan Airport (HMT), the Bell at 6:34 p.m. and the Sikorsky three minutes later. Traveling north-northeast, the Bell crossed the western spur of the San Jacinto Mountains and completed a 360-degree, counter-clockwise loop over the foothills before entering the valley and heading northeast toward the fire.

The Sikorsky took a more direct path to the northeast. The report relies on ADS-B data to determine the flight paths, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, a system that broadcasts an aircraft’s position, enabling ground air traffic stations to track it. This data showed the two craft “on a converging flight path, until the time of collision, located about 2 nautical miles west of the Broadway Fire, at an altitude of 2,375 to 2,400 feet mean sea level. The fire was about a mile south of the I-10 freeway.

The report continues: “The wreckage of the Bell came to rest on a steep and rocky hillside about 1,050 ft off the last recorded ADS-B data point. A post-crash fire ensued and consumed the fuselage. The debris path was bout 950 ft by 550 ft, in which all major components of the helicopter were located.

“The beginning of the debris path was identified by a piece of delaminated main rotor blade, which was about 560 feet east of the approximate collision area.”

The impact was described as follows: “About 830 feet southeast of the first delaminated blade component, a ground scar as determined to be the fuselage’s initial impact point. It was followed by a 20-foot-long ground scar … that extended to the engine, which was displaced and located adjacent to rock boulders. The main wreckage was found about 45ft east of the engine.” Other components came to rest within 470 feet to the west of the main wreckage.

The report implies that the Bell rotors collided with a Sikorsky tire. “The right main landing gear tire was damaged, with an approximate 12-inch portion not located.”

The report describes the weather conditions as clear with no cloud ceiling, and VMC, Visual Meteorological Conditions, meaning conditions in which pilots are able to navigate and maintain safe clearance from terrain and other craft visually. The wind speed was noted as 9 mph, and the visibility at 10 miles. All information in preliminary reports is “subject to change.”

NTSB reports state that “The NTSB does not assign fault or blame for an accident or incident; rather, as specified by NTSB regulation, accident/incident investigations are fact-finding proceedings with no formal issues and no adverse parties … and are not conducted for the purpose of determining the rights or liabilities of any person.”

Final reports do attempt to document and understand the chain of actions by pilots and ground control leading up to an incident. These final reports may take a year to be “adopted” and published.