Report: Helicopter Pilot Encountered Snow Before Fatal Crash in Pennsylvania

June 9, 2021

Jun. 8—An Allentown area doctor killed when his helicopter crashed April 22 in a remote area of Wyoming County encountered snow showers just before the aircraft went down, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary accident report.

Dr. Sanjay Kansara, of Upper Saucon Twp., was flying solo from Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport to his job as an anesthesiologist at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre when the Robinson R44 helicopter crashed about 9 p.m. on a mountain near the Forkston Twp. border.

Kansara, who is not identified by name in the report, cruised at an altitude of between 3,000 and 4,000 feet until passing Kasson Brook, NTSB said. The helicopter then made a slight right turn before entering a right descending spiral until it was lost to radar.

A review of weather radar data indicated the helicopter hit a band of snow showers prior to the descending right turn, NTSB said. A fire after the crash consumed most of the wreckage.

— DAVID SINGLETON

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