Six dead, including 3 kids, after helicopter crashes into NYC’s Hudson River: ‘Split in half’

New York Post ^ | Apr 10, 2025 | Joe Marino and Anna Young

[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.

[xone]

Is there a drive shaft through the tail boom?

Yes there is.

[Spacetrucker]

Not intact. Large portion of the tail section is missing, likely why it went down.

[Bigg Red]

Prayers up

[xone]

Mast bumping concerns the main rotor, there are blocks in this type of helo. Rotor is NOT fully articulated.

[Hieronymus]

That is an interesting thought. Is it something that is nearly certain to be identified by an investigation, possible, or unlikely?

I can see that becoming more and more of an issue over time.

[xone]

(Ch-46/47).

46s and 47s don't have a tailrotor, and the rotors are full articulated. You might be confusing it for a sync shaft (shaft that runs the length of the bird to synchronize the rotors.) failure.

[Rio]

Witness Bruce Wall said he saw the helicopter “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and propeller coming off. The propeller was still spinning without the aircraft as it fell, he said.

[Texas Fossil]

In the later photo’s it is clear that the boom and tail rotor and guard are missing.

Is there a metal frame that supports the tail rotor inside the shroud shell of the chopper? Or is it made of structural composite?

[xone]

Again, mast bumping.

[Texas Fossil]

Thank you for explanation.

[SkyDancer]

Well just that reports said it broke in half ... just saying.

[Trump_Triumphant]

Poor kids.

[xone]

It is made of struts same material as the rest of the helo. Losing the tail boom would suck, but this bad boy had no main rotor, no possible recovery.

[Texas Fossil]

OK. Thanks for help.

[Texas Fossil]

Amen. Poor family.

[verum ago]

Wonder what "split in half" even means for a helicopter. The tail assembly broke loose? The rotors fell off?

Both, horribly enough. There are still images circulating now showing most of the tail boom gone and in multiple pieces, with the main rotors several hundred vertical feet above the main body of the aircraft just before it hits the water.

Another source said it looks like the helicopter was performing extreme maneuvers, maybe trying to impress the kids on board.

I feel reasonably confident that the extreme maneuvers were a result of what happened, and not the cause. No way a pilot could get away with that crap in NYC.

I'm not going to bother linking the still images I described because they're awful to behold. It must have been a horrible, terrifying way to die, getting tossed around inside that helicopter as it tumbled into the water.

[HamiltonJay]

Rotors gone, tail gone.. body of copter just plummeted.

https://youtube.com/shorts/IjdLWSgI6S0?si=g93rOOHJGA89vVwh

[VTenigma]

There have been several of these “tail slapping” incidents in the past few year. Mostly people practicing acute maneuvers.

[SkyDancer]

I wonder if the pilot tried a 180 and did it too fast.

[VTenigma]

More like a deep dip and fast pull-up.