CHANDLER ARIZONA —One of two people who died after after a helicopter crashed following a mid-air collision with a single-engine plane near a suburban Phoenix airport has been identified as flight instructor Jessica Brandal, according to Dodge City Community College.
She worked for the Dodge City Community College helicopter flight instructor program in Chandler, Arizona. Student Michael Papendick also died in the crash. Friends established a GoFundMe to help his wife and daughter.
The collision happened October 1, near Chandler Municipal Airport. The plane was able to land safely, and the flight instructor and student pilot on board the airplane declined medical treatment.
No one on the ground was injured. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the cause of the collision and crash. Chandler Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport that does not provide commercial airline service. Authorities say both aircraft are operated by separate flight schools.
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