Helicopter crashes in New York, no word on injuries
Category: News & Politics
Via: vic-eldred • one week ago • 2 commentsBy: Story by Donovan Slack, Trevor Hughes and Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
NEW YORK ‒ A single-engine Bell helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York City, with Mayor Eric Adams describing a "heartbreaking and tragic" incident.
Video footage from local media showed showed rescue boats surrounding the overturned Bell 206 helicopter, its skids bobbing in the water. Multiple media outlets reported that several people were pulled from the water. NBC and CBS both reported that four people were aboard the chopper that went down in the vicinity of the West Side Highway and Spring Street.
"I was walking by and the helicopter went down at 45-degree angle," Eric Campoverde told ABC News. "Big splash ‒ it was very scary."
Citing unnamed sources, NBC New York reported there were "multiple fatalities" from the crash, which happened in the river separating New York from New Jersey. In a social media post, Adams said he was monitoring developments .
"The team is on the scene at the heartbreaking and tragic crash in the Hudson River," Adams posted. The fire and police departments "are assisting first responders closer to the New Jersey side of the river. Please avoid the area near Pier 40 in Manhattan in the meantime."
The Federal Aviation Administration said could not immediately confirm the number of passengers or fatalities. That model has a single engine and can carry one pilot and up to six passengers. The flight-tracking service FlightRadar24 said it believed the helicopter to be a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV.
"The number of people on board is unknown at this time," the FAA said, and said the NTSB will take the lead on the investigation.
Helicopters are a common sight in New York City, ferrying tourists for photo tours above the Statue of Liberty and helping the wealthy public avoid traffic on the city's congested streets. A local group called "Stop the Chop" has long advocated for restrictions on overflights, citing safety concerns.
Among recent helicopter crashes in the area, according to Stop the Chop , were the June 10, 2019, crash of a commuter helicopter that hit the Equitable Building in midtown, killing the pilot, and the May 15, 2019, crash of a commuter helicopter into the Hudson River near the West 30th St. Heliport; that pilot escaped to safety. And on March 11, 2018, a "flightseeing" helicopter crashed into the East River, killing five passengers.
"With over 30 NYC helicopter crashes since 1980 (many resulting in serious injuries and fatalities), the risk of bodily harm to residents and tourists by nonessential helicopters flying above our densely populated area is too great a danger to allow," Stop the Chop argues.
The water temperature in the harbor is about 51 degrees.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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The latest is that 6 were killed
Unfortunately Sully wasn't the pilot.