What aviation experts say about the doomed helicopter in the fatal New York crash
The pilot of the tourist helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River on Thursday afternoon could not have done anything to save himself or his five passengers after the aircraft’s rotor blades and its tail boom detached in the air, an aviation expert said Friday.
The pilot of the tourist helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River on Thursday afternoon could not have done anything to save himself or his five passengers after the aircraft’s rotor blades and its tail boom detached in the air, an aviation expert said Friday.
“Everything we train for as helicopter pilots is under the assumption that the rotor system is still attached to the aircraft,” said Brandt Anderson, a former U.S. Army combat helicopter pilot who is now a policy adviser. “Once that’s separated, there’s no wings, there’s no ability to glide — it’s just falling out of the sky at that point.”
“It’s absolutely horrible,” he added.
An official from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said at a news conference Friday that she would not speculate as to a preliminary cause when asked whether the agency had identified one, emphasizing instead that investigators were still searching for components of and structures from the aircraft, interviewing witnesses and obtaining records, including of the operator of the helicopter, New York Helicopters, and its owner.
“We don’t rule anything out,” said Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the NTSB. “We take a very detailed and comprehensive view and it’s way too early in the investigation.”
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