CBS said that according to information from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the helicopter that crashed on the afternoon of April 10, local time, was the Bell 206, belonging to the travel company New York Helicopters.
Taking off from the lower Manhattan area at 3 p.m., the helicopter quickly took passengers through famous landmarks such as Governor Island and the statue of Goddess oflah, before heading back along the West Coast of Manhattan and turning toward Jersey City - where it fell straight into the Hudson River just 17 minutes after takeoff.
The witnesses at the scene described the horrific moment when the helicopter "exploded in the air" - the parts were thrown out, including the main rotor and the tail, before the entire body fell into the water in a turning position.
It sounded like a thunder. Then I saw black pieces flying left. It seemed like dust or birds, but then the fire truck, the police honked loudly, said a Jersey City resident named Ipsitaa Banigrhi.
New York Mayor Eric Adams confirmed that all 6 people on the helicopter died, including a family from Spain and the pilot. They come here just to admire the picturesque horizon. But then, the tragedy took everything away, he said in grief.
4 people died at the scene, the remaining 2 victims did not survive even though they were taken to the hospital.
New York Police, the New York Fire Department, the Coast Guard, and many other agencies from both New York and New Jersey have mobilized maximum forces. The divers quickly went into the water - where the temperature was about 10 degrees Celsius - to search and salvage the victim's body.
Aviation experts said that the separation of the main fan and the tail part was a sign of a serious mechanical failure - a high possibility of being the direct cause of the accident.
I used to drive this Bell 206. Without a tail rotor, the helicopter would be completely out of control, said aviation journalist Dan Rice. video shows that there is no longer a main rotor system it is an inevitable disaster.
Currently, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSB) and the FAA are launching a comprehensive investigation. The helicopter is owned by Meridian Helicopters, based in Louisiana, and regularly conducts commercial flights in the New York area.
Initial information shows that the weather conditions are not too bad: about 16km wide, cloudy but no storm warning.
The Hudson River has witnessed many previous plane crashes - most notably Fire on the Hudson River in 2009, when captain Sully Sullenberger successfully landed a Airbus A320 carrying 155 people into the river after colliding with a bird.
