Last month, a tourist helicopter crashed into New York City’s Hudson River killed all six on board and broke into three main sections before rapidly descending, the National Road Safety Commission said Wednesday.
Bell 206 Chopper, which operates a New York helicopter tour, departed from ET from downtown Manhattan helicopter pad at 2:58pm on April 10, and flew north down the Hudson River before crashing about 17 minutes later, the NTSB said in a report.
Several witnesses said they heard several big “bangs” coming from the helicopter before the helicopter broke up and descended, NTSB said. The agency said the helicopter was suddenly split into three main sections. The fuselage includes the engine, main rotor system and tail boom.
The NTSB said it was retrieved from the rooftops near Hoboken, New Jersey, from several locations on the river.
The helicopter aircraft had a total of 12,975 uptimes, and the engine had a total of 23,305 hours of operation, the NTSB said. The latest testing of the helicopter was conducted in late February and has been operating for about 50 hours since then, the NTSB added.
The family from Spain was among those who fell crashed.
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Helicopters are crowded in the airspace around Manhattan, allowing tourists to get bird’s-eye views, and at least 20 operators are listed on the tour’s website Viator.
In 2018, five passengers on a helicopter died when the aircraft crashed into the East River in New York. The helicopter was on a charter flight and featured an open door so that passengers could take pictures of the skyline.
By David Shepardson
