Authorities probe Cabazon helicopter crash that killed 3: ‘This should never happen’

Authorities on Monday were trying to discern how two helicopters battling a small fire in Riverside County collided, leaving three people dead.

The two choppers struck each other around 7:05 p.m. Sunday near Cabazon, with one crashing and the other landing safely. The incident marks a rare instance in which the aviation battle of a California wildfire resulted in a midair crash.

Robert Ditchey, an aviation expert who reviewed the crash Monday morning, said aircraft usually follow very prescribed paths into fires that are set by incident commanders on the ground. It was likely that one of the choppers was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he said.

“This is clearly a failure of command and control to have two airplanes in the vicinity of the fire at the same time,” he said. “Somebody really screwed up.”

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection identified two of the crash victims in an internal email as Assistant Chief Josh Bischof and Fire Capt. Tim Rodriguez. Friends of the two from Cal Fire confirmed the deaths online.

Pilot Tony Sousa was also killed in the crash, according to Chad Costa, assistant fire chief for the Petaluma Fire Department, who confirmed the information in a social media post.

Storey County Professional Fire Fighters, which serves the residents of Reno, also posted on Facebook that Sousa was among the victims.

“We were responding to this incident and heard the ‘Emergency traffic’ call as we were coming into the area,” the group posted. “Your heart sinks when you hear this, but you continue on. Everyone on scene continued to work to mitigate the multiple fires that were active. This incident was a somber reminder of how dangerous this job is. Everyone in the fire service knows the dangers, but all accept the risk, as we all want to help others in their time of need.”

Bischof was promoted to assistant chief in March, according to a Facebook post from his wife. He was previously battalion chief at Hemet Ryan Air Attack Base, one of the 14 air bases that Cal Fire has across the state. Before that, he worked in Menifee for the Riverside County Fire Department. Rodriguez also worked for Hemet Ryan Air Attack Base and knew Bischof, according to Facebook posts.

Bischof had spent many years directing aerial attacks of fires from aircraft. He routinely posted photos from high above fires burning in Riverside County. He worked on the Camp fire, which ripped through the town of Paradise in 2018, he told outlets.

“This is certainly one of the worst fires in California history,” he told a CBS reporter at the time as they flew over the Paradise destruction. “It’s the most destruction I’ve ever seen.”

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive Monday afternoon to document evidence at the scene and examine the aircraft. The investigation also will examine radar data, weather, maintenance records and the pilot’s medical records, spokesperson Jennifer Gabris said.

“At this early stage of an investigation, NTSB does not state a cause but will provide factual information when available,” Gabris said. A preliminary report is likely within 15 days, but the full investigation could take one to two years to complete.

Nick Schuler, deputy director of communications and emergency incident awareness with Cal Fire, said he “couldn’t even begin to speculate what caused [the collision] to occur.”

The aircraft that crashed was a Bell helicopter responsible for observation and coordination, officials said. The second helicopter — a Sikorsky S-64, also called a Skycrane — was able to make a safe landing with two people on board. It was not immediately clear whether the Skycrane, typically used for water drops during fires, was dumping fire retardant or water during its flight.

Both helicopters were contracted by Cal Fire on an as-needed basis, said Southern Region Chief David Fulcher, who added that it is “not an uncommon dispatch for a wildland fire to send [additional] resources.”

Twitter user DanielFireCopter, who reports regularly on California wildfires, posted that he saw three helicopters deployed but only one returning to nearby Hemet. He shared a picture of the Sikorsky, prior to the crash, against a blazing red sky.

“What makes it more sad is that I saw both of them heading to the fire … and only seeing Copter 301 returning to Hemet saddens me,” he wrote, adding that not being able to see all three helicopters return “feels haunting.”

Ditchey, the aviation expert, said it was likely that the Bell chopper was not in the proper position.

“I’m guessing that the pilot of the Sikorsky Skycrane was focused on the fire to make the run in. He or she was not looking for any other aircraft in the area because that’s normally a highly coordinated thing,” he said. “You wouldn’t expect the Sikorsky to be looking around to see if there’s another airplane on that very critical path.”

However, he said he did not think the pilots were to blame.

“This should never happen because nobody should be there without the specific approval of the fire control chief,” Ditchey said. “This is a command and control problem, in my opinion.”

For that reason, the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration investigations will likely focus on the ground command center, he said. He added that visibility did not seem to be an issue as the crash happened during daylight hours in apparently clear conditions, and mechanical failure did not seem likely.

Skies were mostly clear Sunday evening, with no visibility restrictions around the time of the crash, the National Weather Service said Monday. Winds were blowing out of the south and southwest about 15 to 20 mph.

Fulcher said Cal Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department had been dispatched to a reported structure fire around 6 p.m. Sunday near Broadway Street and Esparanza Avenue in Cabazon.

A full wildland fire response team, including fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, was dispatched to the scene because the fire — dubbed the Broadway fire — was reported to have spread to vegetation, Fulcher said.

The crash ignited a separate 4-acre blaze, called the Bonita fire, which was extinguished, Fulcher said. He did not elaborate on the type of fuel that caught fire but described it as “the typical grass and vegetation in the Cabazon area.”

While such a robust response to a wildfire is not uncommon, Ditchey said the amount of aircraft seemed like a lot for a small blaze, and it may reflect a heightened concern about what was in the fire’s path. Satellite imagery of the area shows a skate park, an elementary school and nearby homes.

Officials said the helicopters involved were among 24 exclusive aircraft secured by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this year to help bolster Cal Fire’s fleet. The aircraft were contracted for a period of 90 to 120 days.

“These aircraft have been strategically located in communities across California and will be pre-positioned to meet the needs of potential fire activity throughout the state,” the agency said in a July 1 news release about the program, which was funded as part of a $72-million investment from the governor to enhance firefighting response.

Cal Fire has the largest civil aerial firefighting fleet in the world, including more than 60 fixed and rotary-wing aircraft.

Schuler said firefighting flights are standard procedure for the agency, which dropped more than 15 million gallons of water and 9 million gallons of retardant over wildfires in 2022 alone.

“This is something we do every single day, and our pilots are highly proficient,” he said. “Our folks are world-renowned aviators. Obviously, it’s a tragic loss.”

In 2014, a Cal Fire air tanker crashed while battling the Dog Rock fire near Yosemite National Park, killing the pilot. In 2008, a Sikorsky firefighting helicopter operated by the U.S. Forest Service collided with trees and terrain during takeoff near Weaverville, killing nine and seriously injuring four others.

In 2020, the pilot of a UH-1 helicopter died on a water-dropping mission while battling the 1,500-acre Hills fire in Fresno County. And in 2022, a helicopter assisting with firefighting operations in the Fairview fire near Hemet crashed while attempting to land at the Banning Airport, injuring the pilot and two others.

But Schuler said he could not recall any similar incidents involving two aircraft colliding.

“It’s so, so rare that these things occur,” he said.