Helicopter Crash Over Hudson: Missing Rotor Found

A helicopter on a tourist flight over the Hudson River disintegrated midair, resulting in the fatality of all six people on board.

When emergency personnel arrived at the site where the helicopter submerged into the Hudson River last Thursday, it was missing key components, notably the rotor and blades responsible for keeping the helicopter in flight.

On the following Monday, the National Transportation Safety Board announced that several stray parts of the helicopter were finally retrieved from the water. The investigation is spearheaded by this federal agency, seeking to uncover the cause behind last week’s tragedy.

Recovery teams comprising divers from the New York Police Department, alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Jersey City’s Office of Emergency Management, managed to extract the helicopter’s main rotor system, transmission, and roof beam, as detailed by the safety board late Monday.

The aircraft in question was a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger, operated by New York Helicopter Tours, which was on an aerial tour above the river when it unexpectedly fell apart in the sky.

Recorded footage shared on social media depicted the helicopter’s rotor blades and a segment of its tail descending separately to the water below while the helicopter’s main body capsized into the river on its western banks near Jersey City.

Tragically, all passengers perished, and the pilot also succumbed.

Michael Roth, the chief executive of New York Helicopter, mentioned that he was unaware of the mishap concerning the helicopter, which had departed from a Manhattan heliport before attempting the return journey when it met its demise.

Following the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration, charged with overseeing commercial aviation, noted that New York Helicopter halted their tour services as of Sunday night.

By Monday night, the FAA issued an urgent directive suspending the company’s operations due to safety concerns. According to the administration, the head of operations, Jason Costello, intended to pause company operations post-crash, but Michael Roth later countered, stating he did not authorize such a suspension, and revealed that Mr. Costello was no longer employed there.

The FAA cited Mr. Costello’s firing as retaliatory, determining that the company was left without the necessary qualified staff for safe operations.

Although the transportation safety board has wrapped up physical evidence recovery, the investigation is still in its preliminary stages.

Investigators from the board are set to conduct interviews and inspect the helicopter’s wreckage along with the operator’s maintenance records to ascertain why the disintegration occurred. These investigations are known to extend over several months, sometimes surpassing a year’s duration.