Helicopter, small plane collide, crash in Hudson River; Mayor Bloomberg: All 9 onboard presumed dead

Author: admin

9 Aug

Nine people were presumed dead Saturday after a midair collision sent a low-flying plane and a tourist helicopter spiraling from a clear blue sky into the Hudson River.

The dead included five Italian tourists seconds into a sightseeing tour above the city, both pilots, and two passengers on the small single-engine plane – including a child.

“Sadly, it appears to us at this point that this was probably not survivable,” said a somber Mayor Bloomberg. “This is not going to have a happy ending.”

Hundreds watched in disbelief on a sun-splashed summer afternoon as the Piper PA-32 lost a wing and the helicopter shed its still-spinning rotor after the mystifying crash.

The witnesses included another chopper pilot at the West 30th St. helipad, who desperately tried to radio a warning in the seconds before the fatal impact.

His message was never received.

“I saw the chopper hit the water like it was a toy,” recounted Dionis Hernandez, 23, of Brooklyn. “The plane kept flying a little bit. It fell, not too far.”

Hernandez and Amy Molwesky, a 21-year-old NYU student, were standing on Pier 52 when they spotted the low-flying plane approaching the helicopter shortly after noon.

“I thought it was impossible they could crash,” Molewsky said. “And then they actually did. The plane kept flying, the helicopter went straight down.” Next >>