Just read this…
NEW YORK (Aug. 8) A small plane collided with a tour helicopter carrying about a half-dozen people over the Hudson River on Saturday, sending debris into the river and onto the Hoboken, N.J., waterfront.The accident happened just after noon between Manhattan and Hoboken, N.J. The Coast Guard said one person had been rescued and New York City Fire Department officials on the scene said there appear to have been fatalities.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, Federal Aviation Administration officials said. Officials don’t know how many people were aboard the plane, but FAA spokesman Jim Peters said there may have been five passengers and one crew member aboard the helicopter.Emergency crews were on both sides of the river and police divers were going into the water.
By: Flying-A - 14th August 2009 at 03:51
I was afraid of something like this:
Air traffic controller suspended, was chatting on phone with girlfriend during Hudson River crash
By Kenneth R. Bazinet
With Erin EinhornNEW YORK DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Updated Thursday, August 13th 2009, 8:13 PM
The exact moment when a tourist helicopter collided with a small plane over the Hudson River Saturday was captured by a tourist on a boat. See shocking new video below.
WASHINGTON – The air traffic controller at Teterboro Airport was on the phone with his girlfriend during the mid-air collision over the Hudson River.
His supervisor had wandered off and wasn’t even in the tower.
Horrified officials called their actions “unacceptable,” even though they were not blamed for Saturday’s crash.
Both controllers – who were not immediately identified – have been suspended and will likely be fired.
Crash probes by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration revealed the two controllers seriously deviated from their assignments at the time of the collision.
Nine people died when a single-engine Piper plane with three aboard clipped a Liberty Helicopters sightseeing chopper carrying a pilot and five Italian tourists. Both aircraft plummeted into the river.
The NTSB and FAA discovered the controller lapses by listening to audio recordings from the Teterboro tower.
“We learned that the controller handling the Piper flight was involved in apparently inappropriate conversations on the telephone at the time of the accident,” FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said.
“We also learned that the supervisor was not present in the [tower] building as required.”
Babbitt said, “We have no reason to believe at this time that these actions contributed to the accident” but he called the laxness unacceptable.
“We have placed the employees on administrative leave and have begun disciplinary proceedings,” he said.
Air traffic control transcripts indicated no problems in the exchange between controllers at the New Jersey airport and the plane’s pilot, Steven Altman, who was heading for Ocean City, N.J.
The controller gave Altman two choices of route, and he chose a straight shot down the Hudson.
NTSB chairwoman Debbie Hersman has said the controller told Altman to switch his radio over to the Newark tower – and gave the correct frequency – but Newark never made contact.
The controller was also on a separate line with his girlfriend.
“The handoff was never made,” an aviation source said.
Mayor Bloomberg was alarmed by the development.
“If true, this is an unacceptable breach of the trust we put in those who watch the city’s sky,” he said.
New clues to the crash may be contained in a dramatic tourist video of the tragedy that surfaced Thursday on NBC News.
The footage, taken from a boat on the river, shows Altman desperately trying to lift his left wing to avoid hitting the helicopter.
Meanwhile, the remains of the five Italian tourists were welcomed home to Bologna by a large, emotional crowd of friends, relatives and mourners.
Silvia Rigamonti, who lost her husband and youngest son, threw herself at her husband’s casket.
By: J Boyle - 10th August 2009 at 14:49
An early report said the Piper struck the helicopter from the rear.
In that type of airspace, each AC is to stay to the right side of the river, making like a road in North America.
From personal experience flying a helicopter over the Potomac in Washington D.C. where similar rules were (pre-9/11) in place, I can see how it could happen. There isn’t a lot to see of a helicopter from astern.
By: Arabella-Cox - 10th August 2009 at 12:01
There is a lot of coverage on this on the New Zealand Herald website, www.nzherald.co.nz on account of the helicopter pilot being a New Zealander.
A very sad story.
By: Homer09001 - 9th August 2009 at 08:31
Reuters Pictures:
showing the moment of collision i believe.
http://uk.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=UKTRE5771QM20090809&channelName=worldNews#a=1
more collision pictures from FOX: http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/U.S./2009/08/08/midair-collision-hudson-river?slide=1
By: Bmused55 - 8th August 2009 at 22:10
BBC news say two bodies have been found near helicopter wreckage.
How dreadfully awful!
By: EGTC - 8th August 2009 at 21:14
Oh that is so horrible 🙁
By: Pato - 8th August 2009 at 19:39
God thats awful, R.I.P to everyone who died.
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August 8, 2009 at 7:16 pm