Hen stays discovered on the wreckage of a sightseeing helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River final yr in New York Metropolis and killed 6 individuals recommend that it struck a number of geese, investigators stated Thursday
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board reviews launched Thursday describe the proof and witness reviews that assist there having been a hen strike earlier than the helicopter plummeted into the river on April 10, 2025. The reviews weren’t closing, so do not determine a definitive explanation for the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration has stated that helicopters are particularly weak to hen strikes as a result of they fly at low altitudes. Helicopter hen strikes are uncommon, however they are often devastating.
The victims of final yr’s accident included a Siemens enterprise govt from Spain, his household and the pilot. Passengers Agustin Escobar, 49; his spouse, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their three kids, Victor, 4; Mercedes, 8; and Agustin, 10, all died.
The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who acquired his business pilot’s license in 2023. The crash renewed security considerations in regards to the well-liked sightseeing flights and prompted New Jersey’s governor to ask for added restrictions on nonessential helicopter flights.
Stays of a number of geese had been discovered on the helicopter’s rotors and left horizontal stabilizer. One witness instructed the NTSB that simply minutes earlier than the crash a big flock of geese took flight within the space.
“The geese had been huge and there have been a lot of them. When the helicopter went bang, I instantly thought it was a hen strike,” the witness instructed NTSB investigators.
The Smithsonian Establishment’s Feather Identification Lab recognized stays from completely different breeds of geese on the wreckage. A few of these birds common about three kilos. The stays additionally embody feminine Canada Geese, which might common almost eight kilos.
The NTSB has investigated 24 helicopter hen strike crashes up to now 25 years, together with three deadly ones. Helicopter pilots are inspired to attempt to keep away from areas the place birds are recognized to be current and fly slower to attenuate the potential injury from an impression.
“Hen strikes proceed to be a hazard in aviation and one that may be tough to mitigate,” stated aviation security skilled Jeff Guzzetti, who used to analyze crashes for each the NTSB and FAA.
The hazard of hen strikes had been highlighted within the “Miracle on the Hudson” in 2009, when a US Airways jet hit a flock of birds and misplaced energy in each engines shortly after takeoff. Pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was hailed as a hero after he landed the powerless aircraft within the Hudson River and all 155 individuals on board had been rescued.
Within the 2025 crash, witnesses described seeing the helicopter’s tail and fundamental rotor breaking away and smoke pouring from the spinning chopper earlier than it slammed into the water.
The helicopter took off from a downtown heliport that afternoon and flew north alongside the Manhattan skyline earlier than heading south towards the Statue of Liberty. Lower than 18 minutes into the flight, elements of the plane had been seen tumbling into the water.
Rescue boats circled the submerged plane inside minutes of impression and recovered the our bodies from the water. Later restoration crews hoisted the mangled Bell 206L-4 helicopter out of the river for investigators to look at.
New York Helicopter Excursions shut down after the crash, and the FAA issued an emergency order to floor all the corporate’s flights after studying it had fired its operations director minutes after he had agreed to droop flights throughout the investigation.
The FAA stated on the time that it suspected the firing was retaliation for a security resolution.
The corporate’s director of operations, Jason Costello, agreed to voluntarily halt flights whereas the crash was being investigated. However 16 minutes after Costello despatched an electronic mail to the FAA, the corporate’s chief govt officer despatched a separate electronic mail to the company saying he didn’t authorize the halt and that Costello was not an worker.
At the very least 38 individuals have died in helicopter accidents in New York Metropolis since 1977. A collision between a aircraft and a vacationer helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed 9 individuals, and 5 died in 2018 when a constitution helicopter providing “open door” flights went down into the East River.
