‘Falling apart’ midair: Helicopter plunges into New York’s Hudson River, killing six
By Michael R. Sisak, Jennifer Peltz and Ted Shaffrey
New York: A sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront, killing six people, including a family of Spanish tourists, in the latest high-profile aviation disaster in the US, officials said.
Mayor Eric Adams said the flight began at a downtown heliport about 3pm on Thursday (5am Friday AEST), and that the dead had been recovered and removed from the water.
The New York Times reported that Agustín Escobar – president of the Spanish branch of the technology company Siemens – his three children and his wife had died, citing a senior law enforcement official said on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the crash. Another official confirmed that the Siemens executive and his family had been killed. The pilot was also killed.
Witness Bruce Wall said he saw the helicopter “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and rotor coming off. The rotor was still spinning without the helicopter as it fell, he said.
Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey, said she saw the helicopter spinning uncontrollably before it slammed into the water.
“There was a bunch of smoke coming out. It was spinning pretty fast, and it landed in the water really hard,” she said in a phone interview.
Video on social media showed parts of the helicopter splashing into the water and the overturned aircraft submerged, with rescue boats circling it.
The weather was overcast at the time of the crash, but visibility over the river was not substantially impaired. Rescue crews had to deal with seven-degree water temperatures.
The Bell 206 aircraft, operated by New York Helicopter Tours, flew north up the Hudson River before turning south when it reached the George Washington Bridge, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
It crashed minutes later, hitting the water upside down and sinking near Lower Manhattan about 3.15pm, just off Hoboken, New Jersey, Tisch said.
A crane vessel arrives at the scene where a helicopter crashed.Credit: AP
Divers helped remove the victims from the water. Four were pronounced dead at the scene, while two others were taken to area hospitals where they died.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board planned to investigate.
The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with both planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights. Manhattan has several helipads that whisk business executives and others to destinations throughout the metropolitan area.
Over the years, there have been multiple crashes, including a collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson River in 2009 that killed nine people and the 2018 crash of a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights that went down into the East River, killing five people.
Police and fire crews from New York and New Jersey respond to a helicopter crash in the Hudson River on Thursday, local time.Credit: AP
A medical transport plane that killed seven people when it plummeted into a Philadelphia neighbourhood in January. That happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington – the deadliest US air disaster in a generation.
The crashes and other close calls have left some people worried about the safety of flying.
AP, Reuters
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