Six folks died when a sightseeing helicopter tumbled out of the sky and plunged into the Hudson River simply off Jersey Metropolis, N.J., throughout from the West Village in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York mentioned.
“Six harmless souls have misplaced their lives, and we pray for them and their households,” she mentioned.
No less than three adults and three youngsters — 5 of whom have been members of a household of vacationers from Spain — have been pulled from the helicopter or from the frigid river and brought to hospitals in New Jersey, however none survived, Mayor Eric Adams mentioned.
The helicopter went down within the river close to a air flow constructing above the Holland Tunnel at about 3:15 p.m.
Here’s what else we all know:
Witness and video accounts: Video of the crash exhibits the helicopter tumbling finish over finish and hitting the water at a excessive pace. One witness, Mandy Bowlin, mentioned she was on a Circle Line tour boat, heard a increase behind her and noticed the helicopter plummeting. Its rotor flew off and the craft nose-dived into the water, sending particles flying towards the boat.
The helicopter and its operator: The helicopter was a Bell 206 operated by New York Helicopter, which runs sightseeing excursions for a number of hundred {dollars} a flight. The corporate’s chief government, Michael Roth, mentioned he didn’t know what occurred to the plane, which he had leased from an organization in Louisiana.
The route: The helicopter appeared to have taken off from Downtown Manhattan Heliport, situated close to the decrease tip of Manhattan. It circled close to the Statue of Liberty, flew north to the George Washington Bridge, and was heading again south when it crashed.
Emergency response: Rescue divers and different emergency personnel swarmed the realm close to the place the helicopter went down however couldn’t save anybody. Two passengers have been alive when pulled from the water however later died, mentioned New York Metropolis’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch.
Historical past of different crashes: No less than 32 folks have died in helicopter accidents in New York Metropolis since 1977, and Thursday’s crash was the deadliest since no less than 2018, when a sightseeing helicopter that was flying with its doorways off fell into the East River and flipped over.
Patrick McGeehan, Christopher Maag and William Okay. Rashbaum contributed reporting.