Divers utilizing sonar searched Friday for key items of a sightseeing helicopter that broke aside in midair and plunged into the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey. All six folks aboard have been killed — a household of 5 from Spain and the pilot, a 36-year-old U.S. Navy veteran.
The principle and rear rotors, foremost transmission, roof construction and tail construction have been nonetheless lacking a day after Thursday’s crash, Nationwide Transportation Security Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy mentioned. Witnesses mentioned they noticed the principle rotor detach and spin away, and bystander video confirmed elements of the plane tumbling via the air.
Homendy mentioned investigators had solely simply begun wanting on the wreckage, flight logs and different materials and wouldn’t speculate on the trigger. The company, which has been spared from the Trump administration’s job-cutting measures, deployed 17 folks to the crash scene, together with 10 investigators.
“Everything is on the table. We don’t rule anything out,” Homendy mentioned. “We take a very detailed and comprehensive view, and it’s way too early in the investigation.”
The helicopter crashed round 3:15 p.m. Thursday, about quarter-hour after departing from a decrease Manhattan heliport. It flew up the west aspect of Manhattan, rotated close to the George Washington Bridge and was heading south when it plummeted the wrong way up right into a shallow stretch of the river close to Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey.
The crash, the newest in a string of lethal incidents, has renewed debate in regards to the security and practicality of helicopter excursions in New York Metropolis’s busy airspace.
Victims embody a household and a Navy vet
Simply earlier than takeoff, Agustin Escobar, his spouse, Mercè Camprubí Montal, and their three youngsters — Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10 — smiled in entrance of the helicopter in memento pictures posted to the tour operator’s web site.
Escobar, a 49-year-old government with the German conglomerate Siemens, had prolonged a enterprise journey to the U.S. to sightsee in New York Metropolis and rejoice two household milestones: Mercedes’ ninth birthday, which might have been Friday, and his spouse’s upcoming fortieth birthday. Montal was an government at Siemens Power, an organization that had been part of the conglomerate earlier than being spun off as a separate entity.
In an announcement posted on the social platform X Friday night time by Montal’s brother, Joan Camprubí Montal, relations expressed gratitude for the “massive expressions of condolences and support,” including, “There are no words to describe what we are experiencing, nor to thank the warmth received.”
Writing in Spanish and in Catalan, Montal mentioned relations had traveled to New York to deal with preparations and requested folks to respect their privateness.
“These are very difficult times, but optimism and joy have always characterized our family. We want to keep the memory of a happy and united family, in the sweetest moment of their lives,” he mentioned. “They’ve departed collectively, leaving an indelible mark amongst all their relations, buddies, and acquaintances.”
The pilot, Seankese Johnson, acquired his business pilot’s license in 2023, based on the Federal Aviation Administration, and had logged about 800 hours of flight time as of March, Homendy mentioned. Just lately, he posted a photograph on Fb of him piloting a helicopter with Manhattan within the background. In 2023, he posted that he was flying a firefighting helicopter.
“Long hours and painstaking work to get to this moment. Thank you for all the love and support from those who’ve helped me get here,” Johnson wrote.
Johnson transitioned to aviation after a profession within the Navy.
He enlisted in 2006 and served till 2018, reaching the rank of Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class, Protection Division data present. He was stationed on the plane provider USS Ronald Reagan from 2007 to 2011 and in San Diego from 2011 to 2018, serving within the Particular Warfare Unit, the Particular Warfare Logistics Assist Unit and the Coastal Riverine Squadron.
Officers name for air visitors restrictions
Thursday’s crash amplified calls from some group activists and public officers to ban or prohibit helicopter visitors round Manhattan. Greater than three dozen folks have been killed in helicopter crashes in New York Metropolis since 1977.
New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Manhattan Democrat, known as the crash a “reminder of our worst fears” and said “having nonessential flights over densely populated areas is a recipe for disaster.”
Jersey Metropolis Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democrat working for governor of New Jersey, known as on the FAA to limit vacationer flights. Had the helicopter veered a number of hundred toes inland, it might need crashed right into a walkway, a playground or house buildings, he mentioned.
The Hudson crash is bringing recent scrutiny to the protection of personal helicopter flights round New York Metropolis. NBC New York’s Andrew Siff stories.
“It’s a very dangerous situation, and I think we need to be practical about it,” Fulop mentioned.
New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams, nevertheless, mentioned he does not need to prohibit any flights till the investigation is full. He instructed 1010 WINS radio: “Folks need to see the town from the sky. On the coronary heart of that is security. It have to be completed proper.”
A helicopter business group additionally urged warning.
“Unfortunately, some well-meaning but misguided leaders are using this tragedy to exploit and push their decades-old agenda to ban all helicopters,” Jap Area Helicopter Council Chairman Jeff Smith mentioned in an announcement.
A collision between a aircraft and a vacationer helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed 9 folks, and 5 died in 2018 when a constitution helicopter providing “open door” flights went down into the East River.
Tour firm is ‘profoundly saddened’
The flight’s operator, New York Helicopter, mentioned in an announcement Friday that it’s “profoundly saddened by the tragic accident and loss of life,” adding that the safety and well-being of passengers and crew “has always been the cornerstone of our operations.”
The corporate, one among a handful providing sightseeing flights within the Large Apple, had been beset by monetary issues in recent times. It emerged from chapter in 2022 and has confronted lawsuits for allegedly failing to pay its payments.
The corporate’s proprietor, Michael Roth, instructed the New York Publish he was devastated and had “no clue” what occurred.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” the Publish quoted him as saying. He added that he had not seen something like this throughout his 30 years within the helicopter enterprise, however famous: “These are machines, and they break.”
Helicopter had upkeep challenge final fall
The helicopter, a Bell 206 LongRanger IV, was inbuilt 2004.
In line with FAA data, it had a upkeep challenge final September involving its transmission meeting.
An entry within the company’s Service Issue Reporting System exhibits the transmission meeting had metallic in oil, an indication of wear and tear, and a bearing within the transmission was discovered to be flaking.
The helicopter had logged 12,728 complete flight hours on the time, based on the data.
The NTSB mentioned its investigators wouldn’t speculate on a preliminary trigger on Thursday’s Hudson River crash of a sightseeing helicopter. Throughout a cease close to the Jersey Shore, the nation’s high transportation official mentioned modifications are within the works. NBC New York’s Ted Greenberg stories.
