Helicopter Crash in East River

[LGA777]

Tuesday at approx 1330 a helicopter with 7 onboard crashed in the East River near Wall Street and Pier 11,
all 7 onboard have been rescued from the water. No further details at this time.

Regards LGA777

[DNA]

I was at East River and East 14th Street elevation 150' nothing can be seen here.
Dave

[Futterman]

Yep, the story is being posted on the site as we speak. Watch the news page and the homepage for more details.

[PhilDernerJr]

http://nycaviation.com/news/helicrash1

[Tom_Turner]

I'd have to think its almost definitely N19TD or possibly N78TD, but most likely the first.

Looks to be intact, but I guess it'll be written off.


- Tom

[IslipWN]

Didn't this happen a while ago in the water and on top of a building?

[PhilDernerJr]

Yeah, heli crashes are "somewhat" common around here.

[Novanglus]

That News 4 chopper that crashed on top of that building was wild. I can't believe no one died in that thing.

[Tom_Turner]

Worst Heli-disaster was a New York Airways S-61 atop the then Pan Am building back in the 1970s I believe.

Horrifically gruesome deaths..wheel strut(?) broke while atop bldg while chopper boarding...blades doing most of the damage..one going off roof, glancing off another roof and even killing one person a few blocks away on the ground. Service atop Pan Am building was then suspended.

Last deaths I remember was East River Midtown.. Proctor and Gamble corporate Eurocopter type. They retired the sister chopper they had shortly therafter.

One death many years ago from Traffic News Helicopter (over Hudson River I believe..) Audio Tape made available of course of reporter on the way down.

At least a couple of other crashes into East River over the years... Islanders Bell Jet Ranger or Long Ranger in one of the incidents.

And, Trumps' Boeing Vertol (or was it a civil Chinook?) went down someplace in the tri-state area taking a core of executives.

Helicopters do seem to have alot of incidents in NY, but then there are so many of them.

[USAF Pilot 07]

Heli crashes are probably so common around here as they are, because these copters are probably flown non-stop with very little mx checks other than FAA minimum requirements.

Not that I'm accusing anobody of anything, but these tour companies, (such as the copter that crashed today) make their money by flying people around. The more the birds are grounded, the less money they make. It wouldn't surprise me if many of the tour helicopters had shady mx records, and if problems, especially the minor ones, reported were just brushed off.

Another thing, it would seem much harder to make an emergency landing in a helo than it would be in a plane.

I mean, you lose an engine in a plane, you can still glide fairly well, or if you're in a twin-engine, you still have one left. to execute an emergency landing.

Something goes wrong in a helo, and you're pretty much dropping like a rock.

[moose135]

Another thing, it would seem much harder to make an emergency landing in a helo than it would be in a plane.

I mean, you lose an engine in a plane, you can still glide fairly well, or if you're in a twin-engine, you still have one left. to execute an emergency landing.

Something goes wrong in a helo, and you're pretty much dropping like a rock.

Not really. Not that I've every flown a helicopter (they don't fly, they beat the air into submission :D ) but if you lose the engine, you should be able to auto-rotate down to a "safe" landing. If things really go bad, and the rotor stops, then it gets dicey.

Of course in a twin-engine plane, the old joke is "How far can you fly on one engine? - All the way to the crash site." :shock: