BREAKING: Helicopter crash in the Hudson River | LiveNOW from FOX

[jeff of pa]

yep ! there was no bird strike in view when the chopper broke up .
there may have been a small bird in view as the chopper dropped but it could also have been debris

 

[Gold:Au]

The smart money seems to be on a catastrophic seizure of the gearbox or drivetrain which subjected the aircraft to to such a violent reaction that it tore both the tail and main rotor / gearbox assembly off the body.

 

[Red-Coat]

This is somewhat disconcerting.

Airworthiness Bulletin advisory from the Australian regulators in 2009. It covers all Bell 206 models, including the Bell 206 L-4 LongRanger that crashed:

 

[signal_line]

My prayers go out to the victims.

I know a helicopter can autorotate if the engine quits but if transmission freezes or the rotors disintegrate there is no hope. Helicopters are mostly very safe even in strong turbulence. But I still prefer to have a set of wings to glide down.

 

[Red-Coat]

The excursion company New York Helicopter (also previously known as New York Helicopter Charter Inc. and New York Helicopter Tours LLC) has apparently had two previous non-fatal incidents according to NTSB records: one in 2013 when an engine failed while five people were on board; and another in 2015 when a pilot made a ‘hard landing’ from 20 feet in the air.

Also, reportedly, over the last 8 years the company has been through bankruptcy and faces ongoing lawsuits over alleged debts. In January, the company was sued for over US$1.4 million for non-payment of a helicopter lease. Another lender sued in February, saying the company had blocked repayments on a weeks-old loan and owed over $83,000. New York Helicopter has not filed a response in either case.

 

[Red-Coat]

Reportedly, on 13 April, the Director of Operations for New York Helicopter, Jason Costello, agreed in a phone call and email to FAA that the company would voluntarily cease flights until the investigation was complete, as per FAA’s request. Minutes later, the company’s CEO, Michael Roth, sent an email to FAA saying Costello didn’t have authority to do that and he was “no longer an employee of NY Helicopter.”

“The immediate firing of the Director of Operations raises serious safety concerns because it appears Mr. Roth retaliated against Mr. Costello for making the safety decision to cease operations during the investigations” the FAA said in a letter, and issued an emergency suspension of the company's air-carrier certificate. New York Senator Chuck Schumer has urged FAA to fully revoke the company’s operating certificate.

The investigation continues, with the main rotor, main gear box, tail rotor and a large portion of the tail boom having been recovered for examination. The chopper was not equipped with any flight recorders and none of its onboard systems recorded anything that would be helpful to the investigation.