(Bloomberg) — The helicopter that plunged into the Hudson River on Thursday and killed all six folks aboard was on its eighth sightseeing journey of the day and lacked a flight information recorder, federal investigators stated.
The Bell 206 L-4 helicopter had accomplished seven flights earlier than it went down shortly after takeoff, the Nationwide Transportation Security Board stated Saturday in an investigative replace. The plane was not geared up with a cockpit voice recorder or flight information recorder, and no onboard video or digital camera units have been recovered, it stated.
The plane’s final main inspection was on March 1. It was carrying a senior govt at Siemens AG, his spouse and three youngsters as passengers when it crashed close to Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey.
Divers from the New York Metropolis Police Division are nonetheless looking out the river for vital elements, together with the primary rotor, tail rotor, primary gearbox, and a big part of the tail growth. It’s utilizing scanning sonar to determine potential areas of wreckage and restoration operations will proceed into Sunday, the NTSB stated.
The cockpit, cabin, elements of the tail growth, the vertical fin, and horizontal stabilizer finlets have been recovered, the NTSB added. A few of these elements shall be despatched to NTSB laboratories in Washington for nearer inspection, and investigators have begun evaluating the flight management system at a safe facility.
The pilot had logged 788 complete flight hours as of late March, although the NTSB continues to be working to find out what number of of these hours have been in the Bell 206 mannequin.
Investigators have met with representatives from the tour operator, New York Helicopter Constitution Inc., and reviewed operational insurance policies, security protocols, and upkeep data. In addition they examined two comparable helicopters as a part of the continued probe.
The crash provides to a troubling security historical past for New York Helicopter. In 2013, one of many firm’s plane made an emergency touchdown in the Hudson attributable to engine failure — later attributed by the NTSB to “improper upkeep choices.” In 2015, one other incident concerned a tough touchdown blamed on the reuse of an “unairworthy” part.
New York Helicopter filed for chapter in 2019 after metropolis officers cracked down on helicopter visitors over Manhattan. Following the newest crash, CEO Michael Roth stated the corporate was “tragically sorry for what occurred” and is cooperating with investigators.
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