Latest news with #Bell206L-4
NBC News
08-05-2025
- NBC News
New report shows helicopter breaking apart in midair before crash that killed 6 in New York
NEW YORK — Federal officials on Wednesday released images of a doomed New York City sightseeing helicopter as it broke apart in midair last month, killing six people. The series of still photographs taken from surveillance camera video shows the fuselage, containing the engine and rotors, separating from the helicopter's tail. The rotor blades and the transmission then detach from the cabin that's carrying the passengers and the pilot. The images were included in the preliminary report about the flight released by the National Transportation Safety Board. 'Several witnesses described hearing several loud 'bangs' emanating from the helicopter before it broke up and descended into the river,' the report says. Justin Green, an aviation lawyer and former Marine helicopter pilot, said the sequence of images shows the helicopter yawing severely and the tail boom failing, suggesting it was most likely struck by the aircraft's main rotor blades while in flight. 'It's clear that some mechanical issue precipitated the breakup,' he said. 'We still do not know the exact issues, only potential causes.' The initial NTSB report, which runs about six pages, does not address the initial cause of 'the in-flight breakup of the aircraft,' he said. That will likely be determined by a forensic examination of the wreckage itself, including the rotor blades, the engine and transmission. Federal Aviation Administration records show the aircraft, a Bell 206L-4, was built in 2004 and had a maintenance issue last September involving its transmission assembly. The NTSB said previously that the aircraft, which was operated by tour company New York Helicopter, was not equipped with any video or data recording devices. But on Wednesday, it said photos taken beforehand show that the pilot, Seankese Johnson, was wearing computer-augmented sunglasses, which would have had video and audio recording capability. The glasses have not been recovered, however. Johnson, a 36-year-old former Navy SEAL, received his commercial pilot's license in 2023 and had logged 790 hours of flight time, according to the NTSB report. But he didn't appear to be particularly experienced flying a Bell 206L-4, according to Al Yurman, a retired NTSB investigator, who noted the report found he had fewer than 50 hours of flight in that type of aircraft. 'It's quite sophisticated for that type of work,' Yurman said. 'I would prefer to have someone more experienced but we'll know more when the full report comes out.' The report said Johnson worked a '10 days on/10 days off schedule' and the April 10 flight was his first day back after 10 days off. The flight was also the eighth of the day for the pilot and the helicopter. The aircraft was on a typical tour, departing from the downtown heliport by Wall Street around 3 p.m. and flying north along the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, witnesses saw the tail and main rotor break away and smoke pouring from the spinning helicopter. In recent years, New York Helicopter, the tour company, went through bankruptcy and faced ongoing lawsuits over alleged debts. The company has said it is cooperating with authorities in the investigation. No one answered the phone at its office or responded to an email seeking comment on Wednesday. The crash was among a recent string of aircraft disasters and close calls that left some people worried about the safety of flying in the U.S. It also revived concerns about the popular and costly aerial tours over New York City. Five commercial sightseeing helicopters have gone down in the rivers around Manhattan since 2005 as a result of mechanical failure, pilot error or collision, killing 20 people. The April 10 crash killed a prominent family from Barcelona, Spain: Agustín Escobar, 49; Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their children Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. Officials have said Escobar, global CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, was in the New York area on business. Montal, who worked for Siemens Energy and was the granddaughter of a former president of the famous Barcelona FC soccer club, flew in with their children to meet him. Mercedes would have turned 9 the day after the crash.
Daily Mirror
08-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Haunting images of doomed New York helicopter wreckage after crash kills six people
The Bell 206L-4 - used by sightseeing tour firm New York Helicopter - broke apart midair and crashed, killing Agustin Escobar, who was the CEO of Siemens Spain, and his family These eerie pictures capture the wreckage of the doomed helicopter which broke apart midair and crashed into the Hudson River. Six people, including Siemens boss Agustin Escobar and his family, died when the sightseeing chopper plunged into the New York City water last month. An investigation is underway into the horror, as part of which a series of still photographs taken from surveillance camera video have been released. The haunting images, included in the preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), show the fuselage, containing the engine and rotors, separating from the helicopter's tail. The rotor blades and the transmission then detach from the cabin that's carrying the passengers and the pilot. The NTSB's report reads: "Several witnesses described hearing several loud 'bangs' emanating from the helicopter before it broke up and descended into the river." The document also said photos taken beforehand show the pilot, Seankese Johnson, was wearing computer-augmented sunglasses, which would have had video and audio recording capability. The glasses have not been recovered. Justin Green, an aviation lawyer and former Marine helicopter pilot, said he understands the tail boom failed mid flight. This spar connects tail surfaces to a fuselage. The expert added: "It's clear that some mechanical issue precipitated the breakup." The initial report, which runs about six pages, does not address the initial cause of the breakup. That, Mr Green said, will likely be determined by a forensic examination of the wreckage itself, including the rotor blades, the engine and transmission. "A tail strike could be caused by a pilot not handling a loss of power emergency and allowing the rotor rpm to decay, which makes the rotors flap up and down more and that can cause a strike," Mr Green said. The aircraft, a Bell 206L-4 built in 2004, also appeared to be fairly old and well used, according to the aviation lawyer. At the time of the crash, the helicopter had operated about 50 hours since its last inspection on February 27, according to the NTSB report. The helicopter's airframe accrued nearly 13,000 total hours of operation, and the engine accrued more than 23,000 hours. Federal Aviation Administration records also show the aircraft had a maintenance issue last September involving its transmission assembly. Mr Green added: "The NTSB will be looking at the overhaul and maintenance records to make sure everything is up to date." The NTSB said previously that the aircraft, operated by tour company New York Helicopter, was not equipped with any video or data recording devices. However, it has now emerged Mr Johnson, the 36-year-old pilot, was wearing the computer-augmented sunglasses. The former Navy SEAL received his commercial pilot's license in 2023 and had logged 790 hours of flight time, the NTSB report said. But he didn't appear to be particularly experienced flying a Bell 206L-4, observed Al Yurman, a retired NTSB investigator. The agency said in its report Mr Johnson had fewer than 50 hours of flight in that type of aircraft. Mr Yurman continued: "It's quite sophisticated for that type of work. I would prefer to have someone more experienced, but we'll know more when the full report comes out." The report said Mr Johnson worked a '10 days on/10 days off schedule' and the April 10 flight was his first day back after 10 days off. The flight was also the eighth that day for the pilot and the helicopter. The aircraft was on a typical tour, departing from the downtown heliport by Wall Street around 3pm and flying north along the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, witnesses saw the tail and main rotor break away and smoke pouring from the spinning helicopter. In recent years New York Helicopter, the tour company, went through bankruptcy and faced ongoing lawsuits over alleged debts. The company has said it is cooperating with authorities in the investigation. No one answered the phone at its office or responded to an email seeking comment on Wednesday. The crash was among a recent string of aircraft disasters and close calls that left some people worried about the safety of flying in the US It also revived concerns about the popular and costly aerial tours over New York City. Five commercial sightseeing helicopters have gone down in the rivers around Manhattan since 2005 as a result of mechanical failure, pilot error or collision, killing 20 people. The April 10 crash killed Mr Escobar's family from Barcelona; his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their children Victor, four, Mercedes, eight, and ten-year-old Agustin. Officials have said Mr Escobar, global CEO of the rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, was in the New York area on business. Ms Montal, who worked for Siemens Energy and was the granddaughter of a former president of the famous Barcelona FC soccer club, flew in with their children to meet him.
Japan Today
08-05-2025
- General
- Japan Today
New report shows NYC helicopter breaking apart in midair before crash that killed 6
In this photo taken from video, a helicopter falls from the sky into the Hudson River , Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (Bruce Wall via AP) By PHILIP MARCELO Federal officials on Wednesday released images of a doomed New York City sightseeing helicopter as it broke apart in midair last month, killing six people. The series of still photographs taken from surveillance camera video shows the fuselage, containing the engine and rotors, separating from the helicopter's tail. The rotor blades and the transmission then detach from the cabin that's carrying the passengers and the pilot. The images were included in the preliminary report about the flight released by the National Transportation Safety Board. 'Several witnesses described hearing several loud 'bangs' emanating from the helicopter before it broke up and descended into the river,' the report says. Justin Green, an aviation lawyer and former Marine helicopter pilot, said the sequence of images shows the helicopter yawing severely and the tail boom failing, suggesting it was most likely struck by the aircraft's main rotor blades during flight. 'It's clear that some mechanical issue precipitated the breakup,' he said. The initial report, which runs about six pages, does not address the initial cause of the breakup. That, Green said, will likely be determined by a forensic examination of the wreckage itself, including the rotor blades, the engine and transmission. 'A tail strike could be caused by a pilot not handling a loss of power emergency and allowing the rotor rpm to decay, which makes the rotors flap up and down more and that can cause a strike," he said. The aircraft, a Bell 206L-4 built in 2004, also appeared to be fairly old and well used, according to Green. At the time of the crash, the helicopter had operated about 50 hours since its last inspection on Feb. 27, according to the NTSB report. The helicopter's airframe accrued nearly 13,000 total hours of operation, and the engine accrued more than 23,000 hours. Federal Aviation Administration records also show the aircraft had a maintenance issue last September involving its transmission assembly. 'The NTSB will be looking at the overhaul and maintenance records to make sure everything is up to date," Green said. The NTSB said previously that the aircraft, operated by tour company New York Helicopter, was not equipped with any video or data recording devices. But on Wednesday, it said photos taken beforehand show that the pilot, Seankese Johnson, was wearing computer-augmented sunglasses, which would have had video and audio recording capability. The glasses have not been recovered. Johnson, a 36-year-old former Navy SEAL, received his commercial pilot's license in 2023 and had logged 790 hours of flight time, the NTSB report said. But he didn't appear to be particularly experienced flying a Bell 206L-4, observed Al Yurman, a retired NTSB investigator. The agency said in its report Johnson had fewer than 50 hours of flight in that type of aircraft. 'It's quite sophisticated for that type of work,' Yurman said. 'I would prefer to have someone more experienced, but we'll know more when the full report comes out.' The report said Johnson worked a '10 days on/10 days off schedule' and the April 10 flight was his first day back after 10 days off. The flight was also the eighth that day for the pilot and the helicopter. The aircraft was on a typical tour, departing from the downtown heliport by Wall Street around 3 p.m. and flying north along the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, witnesses saw the tail and main rotor break away and smoke pouring from the spinning helicopter. In recent years New York Helicopter, the tour company, went through bankruptcy and faced ongoing lawsuits over alleged debts. The company has said it is cooperating with authorities in the investigation. No one answered the phone at its office or responded to an email seeking comment on Wednesday. The crash was among a recent string of aircraft disasters and close calls that left some people worried about the safety of flying in the U.S. It also revived concerns about the popular and costly aerial tours over New York City. Five commercial sightseeing helicopters have gone down in the rivers around Manhattan since 2005 as a result of mechanical failure, pilot error or collision, killing 20 people. The April 10 crash killed a prominent family from Barcelona, Spain: Agustín Escobar, 49; Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their children Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. Officials have said Escobar, global CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, was in the New York area on business. Montal, who worked for Siemens Energy and was the granddaughter of a former president of the famous Barcelona FC soccer club, flew in with their children to meet him. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
NTSB photos show NYC tour helicopter 'suddenly' broke apart midair before fatal crash into Hudson River
Witness photos released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Wednesday show the tour helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River on April 10, breaking apart midair before plunging into the water, killing six people. Though the cause of the crash remains unknown, a preliminary report from the NTSB notes several witnesses heard multiple "loud bangs" coming from the Bell 206L-4 aircraft before it "suddenly" broke into three major sections midair and dropped into the river. Photos show that first, the fuselage – containing the engine and main rotor blade assembly – completely separated from the tail boom. In a subsequent photo, the main rotor blades with the attached transmission and roof structure could be seen broken apart from the fuselage. A Bell 206L-4 helicopter, N216MH, was destroyed in a crash near Jersey City, N.J. 'Everything Is On The Table' As Ntsb Investigates Deadly Hudson River Tour Helicopter Crash The helicopter departed Downtown Manhattan/Wall Street Heliport in New York City and flew in a teardrop pattern south of the Statue of Liberty, according to flight tracking data obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Read On The Fox News App It then proceeded north along the east side of the Hudson River adjacent to Manhattan, past the George Washington Bridge, where it performed a U-turn, then headed south along the New Jersey side of the river. As the aircraft approached the Holland Tunnel ventilation towers near Jersey City, New Jersey, it increased in altitude to about 675 feet before rapidly descending, according to the FAA. Its last observed altitude was 125 feet. A Bell 206L-4 helicopter, N216MH, was destroyed in a crash near Jersey City, N.J. 6 Dead, Including 3 Children, After Helicopter Plummets In Hudson River The fuselage landed upside down north of the Holland Tunnel ventilation towers, where the water depth was about 6 feet, according to the preliminary report. The main rotor and tail boom sections were found north of the fuselage in about 30 feet of water. Debris was also recovered from the surface of the river and from a rooftop near the NJ Transit building in Hoboken, New Jersey, according to the report. The NTSB did not indicate the helicopter collided with the building. A Bell 206L-4 helicopter, N216MH, was destroyed in a crash near Jersey City, N.J. Nyc Helicopter Tour Company Shuts Down After Hudson River Crash That Killed 6: Faa Though the aircraft was not equipped with any video or data recording devices, photos of the pilot taken just before the flight showed him wearing computer-augmented sunglasses, which had video and audio recording capability, officials said. The sunglasses were not recovered. ADS-B flight track and geographic data highlight the last minute of the flight through breakup, uncontrolled decent and loss of signal. Six people, including a Navy SEAL veteran pilot, two adults and three children, were killed in the crash. Five of the victims have been identified as a Spanish family: Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three young children, the Associated Press reported. Days after the crash, the company that owned the tour helicopter, New York Helicopter Tours, announced it was shutting down its operations immediately. New Jersey Transit did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner contributed to this report. Original article source: NTSB photos show NYC tour helicopter 'suddenly' broke apart midair before fatal crash into Hudson River
Mint
07-05-2025
- Mint
New report shows NYC helicopter breaking apart in midair before crash that killed 6
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal officials on Wednesday released images of a doomed New York City sightseeing helicopter as it broke apart in midair last month, killing six people. The series of still photographs taken from surveillance camera video shows the fuselage, containing the engine and rotors, separating from the helicopter's tail. The rotor blades and the transmission then detach from the cabin that's carrying the passengers and the pilot. The images were included in the preliminary report about the flight released by the National Transportation Safety Board. 'Several witnesses described hearing several loud 'bangs' emanating from the helicopter before it broke up and descended into the river,' the report says. Justin Green, an aviation lawyer and former Marine helicopter pilot, said the sequence of images shows the helicopter yawing severely and the tail boom failing, suggesting it was most likely struck by the aircraft's main rotor blades while in flight. 'It's clear that some mechanical issue precipitated the breakup,' he said. 'We still do not know the exact issues, only potential causes.' The initial NTSB report, which runs about six pages, does not address the initial cause of "the in-flight breakup of the aircraft,' he said. That will likely be determined by a forensic examination of the wreckage itself, including the rotor blades, the engine and transmission. Federal Aviation Administration records show the aircraft, a Bell 206L-4, was built in 2004 and had a maintenance issue last September involving its transmission assembly. The NTSB said previously that the aircraft, which was operated by tour company New York Helicopter, was not equipped with any video or data recording devices. But on Wednesday, it said photos taken beforehand show that the pilot, Seankese Johnson, was wearing computer-augmented sunglasses, which would have had video and audio recording capability. The glasses have not been recovered, however. Johnson, a 36-year-old former Navy SEAL, received his commercial pilot's license in 2023 and had logged 790 hours of flight time, according to the NTSB report. But he didn't appear to be particularly experienced flying a Bell 206L-4, according to Al Yurman, a retired NTSB investigator, who noted the report found he had fewer than 50 hours of flight in that type of aircraft. 'It's quite sophisticated for that type of work,' Yurman said. 'I would prefer to have someone more experienced but we'll know more when the full report comes out.' The report said Johnson worked a '10 days on/10 days off schedule' and the April 10 flight was his first day back after 10 days off. The flight was also the eighth of the day for the pilot and the helicopter. The aircraft was on a typical tour, departing from the downtown heliport by Wall Street around 3 p.m. and flying north along the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, witnesses saw the tail and main rotor break away and smoke pouring from the spinning helicopter. In recent years New York Helicopter, the tour company, went through bankruptcy and faced ongoing lawsuits over alleged debts. The company has said it is cooperating with authorities in the investigation. No one answered the phone at its office or responded to an email seeking comment on Wednesday. The crash was among a recent string of aircraft disasters and close calls that left some people worried about the safety of flying in the U.S. It also revived concerns about the popular and costly aerial tours over New York City. Five commercial sightseeing helicopters have gone down in the rivers around Manhattan since 2005 as a result of mechanical failure, pilot error or collision, killing 20 people. The April 10 crash killed a prominent family from Barcelona, Spain: Agustín Escobar, 49; Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their children Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. Officials have said Escobar, global CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, was in the New York area on business. Montal, who worked for Siemens Energy and was the granddaughter of a former president of the famous Barcelona FC soccer club, flew in with their children to meet him. Mercedes would have turned 9 the day after the crash.
