National Transportation Safety Board begins investigation into Chopper 6 crash

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has officially launched an investigation into the helicopter crash that killed a 6abc pilot and photographer in South Jersey on Tuesday night.

Pilot Monroe Smith, 67, of Glenside, and photographer Christopher Dougherty, 45, of Oreland, were flying back from an assignment shooting Christmas lights on the Jersey Shore when Chopper 6 crashed around 8 p.m. in a wooded area of Washington Township in Burlington County.

They were last seen flying over Wharton State Forest, the station said.

» READ MORE: 6abc’s Chopper 6 crashes, killing pilot and photographer: ‘Just an absolute tragedy’

The NTSB was established in 1967 to investigate civil aircraft accidents in the United States, and determines their probable causes and issues safety recommendations.

At a news conference Thursday, NTSB investigator Todd Gunther said the agency would release a preliminary report about the Chopper 6 accident within 10 to 15 days that includes the “facts, conditions, and circumstances as we know it.”

Smith and Dougherty had been part of the Action News team for years, 6abc said. They were flying a 2013 American Eurocopter AS-350A-STAR that was leased from a North Carolina company at the time of the crash. The helicopter had a clean flight history with no accidents, and had made three other flights that day.

The cause of the crash is unclear.

A team of eight NTSB aircraft specialists and local and state authorities will be at the site in Washington Township for the next three days to collect evidence and remove debris to a secure location for further investigation, Gunther said.

In this initial phase, “we’ll be looking at anything that may have affected the accident flight or may have been causal,” said Gunther. That can include whether the helicopter’s structure was intact, as well as the state of the aircraft’s rotors, transmission, and flight controls.

The investigators will also be looking at weather conditions Tuesday night, Gunther said, as well as the helicopter’s maintenance and flight history.

Gunther confirmed that the helicopter was on course at the time of the crash, and flying conditions were “cold and clear.”

Once the preliminary report is released, Gunther said, the NTSB will then work on a longer report that will include photographs, statements from witnesses, and the results of any tests. That will take about a year and a half to complete, Gunther said.

After that, a safety board will release a statement of probable cause.

Smith and Dougherty were “beloved” employees of U.S Helicopters, which contracts with 6abc to provide pilots and photographers. A Ben Franklin High School graduate, Dougherty previously flew for NBC10.

“He made sure he got that story for whatever he was going out for. What we lost was a great man … a great pilot,” retired NBC10 photojournalist Pete Kane told the station, where he used to work with Smith. “He made sure we were safe.”

Dougherty — whose brother Jeff is an NBC10 sports editor — is survived by a wife and two daughters. Colleagues told 6abc he liked to play guitar in the office while waiting for assignments.

“He was like Monroe. If someone needed help, no competition,” said Kane, who also knew Dougherty.

U.S Helicopters said it would cooperate with the investigations.

“We deeply sympathize with their families and share in their grief as a result of this tragic event,” read a statement from U.S. Helicopters. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of our cherished colleagues.”