Plane, helicopter collide over Hudson River

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-ap-us-hudson-mid-air-collision,0,6082508.story

Probable fatalities, according to the story.

 

Damn. Helicopters freak me out. It said one survivor has been pulled out of the water...I hope there are more.

 

Very sad to hear.

I've flown that Hudson River route out of Teterboro a few times myself, and it's a very busy corridor below the restricted airspace of the NYC airports. Surprised this hasn't happened sooner, really.

 

Liberty Tours helicopter with 5 passengers and a pilot...small aircraft out of Teterboro (right down the street from me), unknown number of passengers.
Only one rescue so far, no bodies recovered yet, very little signs of debris in the water.

When I lived close to the Hudson, I used to watch the number of choppers and small planes going up and down eveyr day and wonder how this didn't happen at least once a month. Very busy low flight area.

 

I don't live anywhere near there, and I never have, but I had those same thoughts after reading this in 1996:

http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~jeffj/ny_tracon.html

 

9 presumed dead, including one child aboard the plane and 5 Italian tourists on the chopper.
2 bodies have been recovered, so far only one survivor rescued.

It is now characterized as a recovery mission, not a rescue mission.
Very sad.

 

Those early reports of a survivor were apparently wrong. No survivors on either aircraft. Which makes sense. Seems like an impossible situation to survive, from the collision, to the impact, to the submersion.

 

chilling video

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Video-Captures-Hudson-River-Midair-Collision-Helicopter-Plane-53162997.html

 

wow.

 

On the wire this morning.


WASHINGTON (AP) — The air traffic controller handling the small plane involved in a deadly crash with a helicopter over the Hudson River was chatting on the telephone about a dead cat at the airport and initially failed to warn the pilot of other aircraft in his path, officials say.

The controller tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot before the accident, officials said Friday, but the plane collided with a tour helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine people.

The controller handling the plane and his supervisor at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey at the time of the accident a week ago have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.

 

I wonder if this goofball was the putz who initially was in on the Sullenberger ditch landing discussions....

 

I don't remember there being any mention of putziness of the flight controller in the Hudson landing. A review of the excellent William Langewiesche article in Vanity Fair confirms:
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/06/us_airways200906?printable=true&currentPage=all

Long article, well worth the read.