By Yepoka Yeebo
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A series of errors, including an air-traffic controller distracted by a personal call, caused the collision of a small plane and a tour helicopter that killed nine people, the National Transportation Safety Board reportedly said Tuesday.
The draft report by the Board found that although the company running the sightseeing helicopter had told its pilots to fly at or below 1,000 feet, the helicopter pilot was at 1,100 feet when the collision occurred in August of 2009, the New York Times reported.
The pilot of the single-engine Piper plane, who was also flying at 1,100 feet, was waiting for permission to climb higher from an air traffic controller at Newark Airport, but was tuned into the wrong frequency, according to the Times.
An air traffic controller at Teterboro Airport had apparently given the airplane pilot the correct frequency for the controller at Newark Airport, but was distracted by a personal phone call about a dead cat, according to the New York Post, and didn't realize the pilot had read it back wrong wrong. Controllers are directed to listen for the pilot's repetition of the frequency and correct it if it's wrong.
“It never should have happened if people had been doing what they were were supposed to be doing, what they were paid to do," said Jackie Altman, whose husband, Daniel, 49, of Dresher, Pa., and son Douglas, 16, were on the plane according to the Times.
The report also found Federal Aviation Administration procedures failed in the busy air corridor on the west side of Manhattan, relying on pilots to "see and avoid" each other instead of being guided by air traffic controllers.
Investigators found that the helicopter pilot, who was seated on the left, would not have seen the plane, which was behind his left shoulder. The plane's pilot would not have seen the helicopter until seconds before the crash, according to reports.
The board is expected to make several recommendations about procedure based on the report, the Times said.
