ToughOmbre
Senior Master Sergeant
From FOX News
Saturday, August 08, 2009
NEW YORK — A tourist helicopter collided in midair with a small plane over the Hudson River Saturday, likely killing all nine aboard, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Two bodies have been pulled from the river, one floating free and one in the wreckage, and authorities do not believe the crash was "survivable," Bloomberg said at a press conference. The nine passengers and crew on both aircraft are all presumed dead.
"This is not going to have a happy ending," the mayor said. "This has changed from a rescue to a recovery mission."
The accident happened just after noon between Manhattan and Hoboken, N.J., and left debris scattered in the water and on the New Jersey shoreline, sending witnesses ducking for cover.
The sight-seeing helicopter was carrying five Italian tourists and a pilot, and the plane was carrying a pilot and two passengers, one of whom is believed to have been a child, Bloomberg said.
The mayor said one of the victims found in the water was believed to be a passenger on the helicopter. Officials didn't immediately know whether the other person retrieved was among those killed in the air collision.
"If anybody had survived, we would have been there," said Bloomberg. "Sadly, it appears to us at this point that this was not survivable."
Both craft are under water and may have sunk to a depth of 30 feet, he told reporters. Though it was a crystal-clear summer day in New York, visibility is only about two feet in the water, making the recovery process extremely difficult, according to the mayor.
"We have found one piece of wreckage. This is a dangerous area when the currents are running," he said, adding that divers were not to put their lives at risk in a recovery mission unlikely to bring back any survivors.
The plane, a Piper PA-32, took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, and the helicopter was a Eurocopter AS 350 owned by Liberty Tours, a sightseeing and charter company, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
FAA spokesman Jim Peters said the plane was headed to Ocean City, N.J., with three people aboard and that it was believed there were five passengers and one crew member on the helicopter.
Authorities were told the plane crashed "into the backside of the helicopter," Bloomberg said, warning reporters that the actual facts of the accident won't be known for months.
People who saw the accident and its aftermath described the two aircraft colliding not far from the Hoboken shoreline, and said the impact sheared off the plane's wing.
"There was a loud pop, almost like a car backfire," said Buzz Nahas, who saw the crash from Hoboken. "The helicopter dropped like a rock."
Katie Tanski of Hoboken heard the noise of the collision, looked up and saw chaos in the air.
"We saw the helicopter propellers fly all over," she said. Some pieces of the wreckage fell on land, sending Tanski and others scurrying for cover.
Seven months ago, the same river was the scene of a spectacular aircraft accident. In January, a US Airways flight taking off from LaGuardia Airport slammed into a flock of birds and lost power in both engines. The plane crash-landed in the Hudson River, and all 155 people on board were pulled to safety.
Liberty Tours runs sightseeing excursions around the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Manhattan at costs ranging from $130 to about $1,000.
A person who answered the phone at a Liberty Tours office declined to comment on the accident, but said the company would be releasing a statement.
Two years ago, a Liberty helicopter fell 500 feet from the sky during a sightseeing trip. The pilot was credited with safely landing the chopper in the same river and helping evacuate her seven passengers.
In 1997, a rotor on one of its sightseeing helicopters clipped a Manhattan building, forcing an emergency landing. No one was hurt
TO
Saturday, August 08, 2009
NEW YORK — A tourist helicopter collided in midair with a small plane over the Hudson River Saturday, likely killing all nine aboard, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Two bodies have been pulled from the river, one floating free and one in the wreckage, and authorities do not believe the crash was "survivable," Bloomberg said at a press conference. The nine passengers and crew on both aircraft are all presumed dead.
"This is not going to have a happy ending," the mayor said. "This has changed from a rescue to a recovery mission."
The accident happened just after noon between Manhattan and Hoboken, N.J., and left debris scattered in the water and on the New Jersey shoreline, sending witnesses ducking for cover.
The sight-seeing helicopter was carrying five Italian tourists and a pilot, and the plane was carrying a pilot and two passengers, one of whom is believed to have been a child, Bloomberg said.
The mayor said one of the victims found in the water was believed to be a passenger on the helicopter. Officials didn't immediately know whether the other person retrieved was among those killed in the air collision.
"If anybody had survived, we would have been there," said Bloomberg. "Sadly, it appears to us at this point that this was not survivable."
Both craft are under water and may have sunk to a depth of 30 feet, he told reporters. Though it was a crystal-clear summer day in New York, visibility is only about two feet in the water, making the recovery process extremely difficult, according to the mayor.
"We have found one piece of wreckage. This is a dangerous area when the currents are running," he said, adding that divers were not to put their lives at risk in a recovery mission unlikely to bring back any survivors.
The plane, a Piper PA-32, took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, and the helicopter was a Eurocopter AS 350 owned by Liberty Tours, a sightseeing and charter company, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
FAA spokesman Jim Peters said the plane was headed to Ocean City, N.J., with three people aboard and that it was believed there were five passengers and one crew member on the helicopter.
Authorities were told the plane crashed "into the backside of the helicopter," Bloomberg said, warning reporters that the actual facts of the accident won't be known for months.
People who saw the accident and its aftermath described the two aircraft colliding not far from the Hoboken shoreline, and said the impact sheared off the plane's wing.
"There was a loud pop, almost like a car backfire," said Buzz Nahas, who saw the crash from Hoboken. "The helicopter dropped like a rock."
Katie Tanski of Hoboken heard the noise of the collision, looked up and saw chaos in the air.
"We saw the helicopter propellers fly all over," she said. Some pieces of the wreckage fell on land, sending Tanski and others scurrying for cover.
Seven months ago, the same river was the scene of a spectacular aircraft accident. In January, a US Airways flight taking off from LaGuardia Airport slammed into a flock of birds and lost power in both engines. The plane crash-landed in the Hudson River, and all 155 people on board were pulled to safety.
Liberty Tours runs sightseeing excursions around the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Manhattan at costs ranging from $130 to about $1,000.
A person who answered the phone at a Liberty Tours office declined to comment on the accident, but said the company would be releasing a statement.
Two years ago, a Liberty helicopter fell 500 feet from the sky during a sightseeing trip. The pilot was credited with safely landing the chopper in the same river and helping evacuate her seven passengers.
In 1997, a rotor on one of its sightseeing helicopters clipped a Manhattan building, forcing an emergency landing. No one was hurt
TO
