Helicopter in fatal New York crash lacked flight recorders, NTSB says
The helicopter that crashed into New York City’s Hudson River on Thursday, April 10, killing all six people on board including three children, lacked flight recorders, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
No video or camera recorders have been recovered from the Bell 206 helicopter, the NTSB said late on Saturday, and none of the equipment on it had recorded information that would help the investigation.
Divers from the NYPD were continuing to search for parts of the helicopter, including the main rotor, gearbox, tail rotor and the tail boom, the safety agency said.
On Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration said that the company involved in the crash, New York Helicopter Tours, was shutting down operations immediately.
“Additionally, the FAA will be launching an immediate review of the tour operator’s license and safety record,” it said in a statement on X.
The FAA added that it was “analyzing airplane/helicopter hotspots nationwide” and it would hold a helicopter safety panel on April 22 to discuss the findings.
New York Helicopter Tours said on its website it was referring all requests for comment to the FAA and NTSB.
The aircraft, whose passengers included a senior executive of Siemens AGSIEGn.DE, his wife and three children, had its last major inspection done on March 1, and had completed seven tour flights before the crash, according to federal investigators.
Divers recovered the victims as well as the pilot from the submerged helicopter. Four people were declared dead at the scene, while the remaining two died later after they were transported to nearby hospitals.
Some parts that have been recovered and sent to NTSB laboratories in Washington for inspection include the cockpit, cabin, horizontal stabilizer finlets, the vertical fin and a portion of the tail boom, according to the NTSB update.
Investigators examined two similar helicopters as part of the probe and met with representatives of New York Helicopter Charter, the operator of the crashed chopper, to review operational records, policies and procedures, safety management systems and the pilot’s experience, the agency said.
The helicopter took off around 3 pm ET (1900 GMT) on Thursday from a downtown helicopter pad and flew north along the Hudson, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has said.
After reaching the George Washington Bridge, it turned south but crashed shortly afterwards, hitting the water upside down near Lower Manhattan, just off Jersey City, at about 3:15 pm. – Rappler.com