Mid-air collision Accident Hughes/helicopter Assocs Inc 369A N546, Saturday 13 October 2012

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Date:	Saturday 13 October 2012
Time:	08:20 LT
Type:	Hughes/helicopter Assocs Inc 369A
Owner/operator:
Registration:	N546
MSN:	66-14389
Year of manufacture:	1968
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Category:	Accident
Location:	West Chester, Pennsylvania - United States of America
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Lancaster Airport, PA (LNS/KLNS)
Destination airport:	West Chester-Brandywine Airport, PA (OQN/KOQN)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:

Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to see and avoid the preceding helicopter while maneuvering for landing. Contributing to the accident were the flight lead pilot's inadequate preflight briefing and in-flight instruction to the formation pilots, which resulted in the loss of the formation flight's integrity and the pilots' situational awareness within the flight.

Accident investigation: