1991 Merion mid-air collision
1991 mid-air collision
About
On April 4, 1991, a Piper Aerostar propeller-driven aircraft collided in mid-air with a Bell 412 helicopter over Merion Elementary School in Lower Merion Township, a suburb west of Philadelphia, in southeast Pennsylvania. All five people in both aircraft were killed, including United States Senator John Heinz, the sole passenger of the Piper. On the ground, two schoolchildren were killed by falling debris and five people were injured.
An investigation determined the accident was caused by poor crew judgment and pilot error in both aircraft.
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