An NYC helicopter that crashed and killed 6 last year shows signs of bird strike, safety board says
Bird remains were found in the wreckage of a sightseeing helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River in New York last year. killed 6 people Investigators said Thursday they believe several geese were hit.
National Transportation Safety Board reports released Thursday describe evidence and witness reports supporting a bird strike before the helicopter crashed into the river on April 10, 2025. The reports were not conclusive, so do not determine the exact cause of the accident.
The Federal Aviation Administration said helicopters are particularly vulnerable to bird strikes because they fly at low altitudes. Helicopter bird strikes are unusual but can be devastating.
Among the victims of last year’s accident was a Siemens Company manager and family from Spain and pilot. Passengers Agustin Escobar, 49; wife Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their three children, Victor, 4; Mercedes, 8; and Agustin, 10, all died. The pilot was U.S. Navy veteran Seankese Johnson, 36, who received his commercial pilot license in 2023. renewed security concerns about popular sightseeing flights and prompted New Jersey’s governor to take action to ask for additional restrictions on non-essential helicopter flights.
Numerous goose remains were found on the helicopter’s rotors and left horizontal stabilizer. A witness told the NTSB that a large flock of geese were flying in the area just minutes before the crash.
“The geese were large and there were many of them. When the helicopter exploded, I immediately thought it was a bird strike,” the witness told NTSB investigators.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Feather Identification Laboratory identified remains of different goose species in the debris. Some of these birds appear to weigh around three kilos on average. Among the remains are female Canada Geese, which can weigh up to eight kilos on average.
The NTSB has investigated 24 helicopter bird strike accidents in the past 25 years, three of which were fatal. Helicopter pilots are encouraged to try to avoid areas where birds are known to be present and to fly slower to minimize potential damage from a collision.
“Bird strikes remain a hazard in aviation and can be difficult to mitigate,” said Jeff Guzzetti, an aviation safety expert who investigates crashes for both the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration.
” Miracle on the Hudson” In 2009, the danger of bird strike was highlighted when a US Airways jet hit a flock of birds and lost power in both engines. Pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was hailed as a hero after landing the underpowered plane in the Hudson River and all 155 people on board being rescued.
Eyewitnesses in last year’s accident said they saw the tail and main rotor of the helicopter broken and smoke coming from the helicopter as it turned before it hit the water.
The helicopter took off from a downtown helipad that afternoon and flew northward across the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, some parts of the plane were seen falling into the water.
Rescue boats circled the sunken plane within minutes of impact and pulled the bodies from the water. Rescuers then pulled the mangled Bell 206L-4 helicopter from the river for investigators to examine.
New York Helicopter Tours closed after the crash, and the FAA issued an emergency order to cancel all of the company’s flights after learning that it had fired its director of operations minutes after agreeing to suspend flights while it investigated.
The FAA said at the time that it suspected the firing was in retaliation for a safety decision.
The company’s operations manager, Jason Costello, agreed to voluntarily suspend flights while the crash was investigated. But 16 minutes after Costello emailed the FAA, the company’s CEO sent a separate email to the agency saying he had not authorized the stoppage and that Costello was no longer an employee.
