Helicopter in fatal New York crash lacked flight recorders, officials say | New York helicopter crash

The helicopter that crashed into New York City’s Hudson River on Thursday – killing all six on board, together with three kids – lacked flight recorders, stated the US’s Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB).

It was additionally on its eighth tour flight of the day, having already accomplished seven, based on federal investigators.

No video or digicam recorders have been recovered from the Bell 206 helicopter, the NTSB stated in an replace late on Saturday – and not one of the tools on it had recorded info that will assist the investigation.

New York police divers have been persevering with to seek for components of the helicopter, together with the principle rotor, gear field, tail rotor and the tail increase, the protection company stated.

The plane had its final main inspection finished on 1 March.

Divers recovered the victims in addition to the pilot from the submerged helicopter. 4 folks have been declared useless on the scene whereas the remaining two died later after they have been transported to close by hospitals.

The passengers killed within the crash have been senior Siemens government Agustín Escobar, his spouse, Mercè Camprubí (who was celebrating her fortieth birthday), and their three kids aged 10, eight and 4. The pilot Seankese Johnson, a Navy veteran, was additionally killed.

Some components which were recovered and despatched to NTSB laboratories in Washington for inspection embody the cockpit, cabin, horizontal stabilizer finlets, the vertical fin and a portion of the tail increase, based on the NTSB replace.

Investigators examined two related helicopters as a part of the probe and met with representatives of New York Helicopter Constitution, the operator of the crashed chopper, to assessment operational data, insurance policies and procedures, security administration techniques and the pilot’s expertise, the company stated.

The chief government of the operator told the UK’s Telegraph that the pilot was touchdown and had indicated that he wanted gas someday earlier than the crash – although he made it clear he doesn’t know precisely why plane got here down.

The helicopter took off at about 3pm native time on Thursday from a downtown helicopter pad and flew north alongside the Hudson, New York police commissioner Jessica Tisch has stated.

After reaching the George Washington Bridge, it turned south however crashed shortly afterwards, hitting the water the wrong way up close to decrease Manhattan, simply off Jersey Metropolis, at about 3.15pm.

It was considered one of at the very least three lethal aviation crashes to generate information headlines within the US in current days.

In upstate New York on Saturday, a twin-engine aircraft with six folks crashed close to the neighborhood of Copake. Officers stated the crash was lethal however didn’t instantly point out what number of deaths have been concerned.

On Friday morning in Boca Raton, Florida, three members of a household died after a small aircraft crashed close to Interstate 95. A household assertion reported on by the Florida information station WPTV recognized these killed in that crash as Robert Stark, 81; Stephen Stark, 54; and Brooke Stark, 17. They have been grandfather, father and daughter.

Specialists say flying commercially stays the most secure mode of transportation statistically talking. Nonetheless, many within the US public have been significantly attentive to aviation crashes ever because the January collision outdoors Washington DC between a passenger airplane and a army helicopter that killed all 67 folks aboard the 2 plane close to Ronald Reagan airport.

The federal authorities subsequently banned helicopter operations alongside the route concerned in the crash close to Reagan airport.