Posted on 04/10/2025 2:58:44 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
A helicopter carrying a family of tourists from Spain crashed into the Hudson River Thursday afternoon – killing all six passengers on board, according to fire officials and sources.
Rescue efforts are underway after witnesses saw the Bell 206 chopper “split in half” before it went down near Pier 40 on West Houston Street and West Street around 3:15 p.m., the New York City Fire Department told The Post.
Sources told The Post all six people on board were killed, which included two adults, three children and the pilot.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
So so sad.....life is a vapor and can be extinguished in a moment. Children. Heartbreaking......
Yes. And lots of crashes in the news for past few months.
Another source said it looks like the helicopter was performing extreme maneuvers, maybe trying to impress the kids on board.
just awul.
*awful -sorry.
A video shows something flying off the craft before spinning into the river. A picture shows the craft upside down with the floats intact so it had to split after it hit since it looks intact coming down.
It happens around Manhattan
Lotsa chopper traffic
I saw article about this on X, they had updated view that I could no longer see. So, I searched for the best news source that was covering the article New York Post is usually very accurate.
At this point, I doubt there will be much more detail. Unless someone at the crash site might add to it. Or someone who was close when the Helicopter broke in half. (I think they said split)
Before I’m corrected
“Yes I know less than before 9-11”
It looks to me like half the tail boom is missing on the way down.
Lot of strange maneuvering just before the crash. I’m guessing some mechanical failure leading to a loss of control. OR medical issue with a pilot and a passenger trying to fly.
Either way, it eventually exceeded design limits and had a structural failure.
Anyone know if a commercially operated helo of that type will have any kind of data recorder? And also, it remains to be seen if he said called out with any emergency or difficulty.
Bell 206 data
Might have been the tail rotor that fell off.
Or the tale guard around it.
Not impossible that the pilot was hot-dogging. But doing that in a tourist operation, over the NYC area with thousands of eyes and cell phones? That’s a near guarantee you’d be fired within the next couple of days as soon as the owner found out.
It looks like the main propellor and the whole tail came off.
How can that happen to both at the same time? The helicopter was not spinning, so the tail wouldn’t have come off from tremendous spiraling.
Interesting observation.
If one side of the tail boom guard came off and broke the tail rotor it would have not been controllable.
Is there a drive shaft through the tail boom?
Mechanical failure on the drive gear assembly could have locked?
I am not a pilot.
looks like main body hit first then rotor blades spun in a second or two later
It should have an FDR. However, it appears that an FDR is not required to operate a Bell 206 because it is a single-engine aircraft.
I see that North Flight Data Systems developed an FDR for the analog Bell 206 in 2011.
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