Wreckage Search Following Helicopter Tragedy Ends with Rotor Recovery

An Army Corps of Engineers floating crane lifts a section of the crashed helicopter rotor from the Hudson River on Monday. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

Crews hoisted a rotor from the Hudson River on Monday, recovering what investigators believe may help reveal the cause of a helicopter’s deadly plunge into the water last week.

Following the crash on Thursday that killed a family of five Spanish tourists and the pilot, NYPD divers have been scouring the crash site near Jersey City in search of the blade and other parts of the Bell 206 L-4 helicopter that had separated in mid-air from the aircraft. Video showed the main rotor and tail rotor detach from the chopper as it fell from the sky. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.

After an Army Corps of Engineers floating crane retrieved the last rotor piece around 1:15 p.m., the five-day recovery effort, opposite Pier 40 on the New Jersey side of the river, came to a close.

The helicopter company, New York Helicopter Tours, halted its operations on Sunday.

The persistent noise from excursion flights has been a source of complaints for years. The tragedy renewed calls to end the flying tours around Manhattan once and for all. 

“Helicopters should be reserved for emergency response, essential news coverage and public safety operations—not sightseeing or luxury travel,” City Councilman Christopher Marte said in a statement. “While now is a moment for grief, it is also a moment for serious reflection and urgent policy change.” Because many flights take off from New Jersey, outside New York City’s jurisdiction, Marte said, “we need federal action—urgently—to regulate this industry, close loopholes, and put public safety ahead of profit.”

In December, the city announced a new operator [1], Skyport Infrastructure, for the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at Wall Street, from where the ill-fated helicopter took off on Thursday. At the same time, officials promoted the city’s mission of turning the facility into what they called “the first heliport in the world with the infrastructure to support electric flight.”

Addison Ferrell, an executive with Skyport, said in December that the new chopper fleet—to be rolled out slowly, beginning next year—will be far quieter and emit zero emissions. They also would be safer, he said, “given the unseen, fewer single points of failure.”