Posted on 03/12/2018 3:58:54 AM PDT by nuconvert
Five people were killed when a private helicopter with six people on board crashed into the East River in New York City on Sunday, authorities said.
Three people transported to area hospitals after the crash later died, New York Fire Department spokesman Jim Long said. Two others were pronounced dead at the scene of the incident.
The pilot freed himself and was taken to a hospital in "OK" condition, New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigron told reporters Sunday night. The pilot was later named 33-year-old Richard Vance
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Strange because it seemed like it landed safely and if everyone had gotten their belts off they probably would have survived.
Been a New Yorker my whole life. I’m sure it has happened but don’t remember reading about a crash with so many deaths in those private helicopters.
This company has had 3 in 11 yrs. The one in 2009 was a midair with a plane though - 9 dead
Which one had dirt on Hillary?
Why couldn’t they remove their own harnesses? Nice pilot to take off before getting even one passenger loose.
Stop the slaughter.
Helicopters are weapons of war.
Ban helicopters, it is the only way to stop fatalities.
No constitutional right for civilian ownership or use of helicopters.
Do it for the children.
maybe they were already dead
The report I saw suggests to me that they drowned.It said that they were belted in with "fighter pilot type" belts (my words,not theirs) and that these belts would be difficult to uncouple in a situation like theirs.The impact didn't look that bad but if they were really belted in tight while upside-down in the water...there's your explanation.
I'll be streaming WOR in New York in a while and They're sure to have details.
So sad. Prayers up, for the families, of all.
From your link....
...The pilot freed himself and was taken to a hospital in “OK” condition, New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigron told reporters Sunday night. The pilot was later named 33-year-old Richard Vance.
The cause of the crash, which occurred at about 7 p.m. north of Roosevelt Island between Queens and Manhattan, remained unclear.
The chopper, which was operated by Liberty Helicopters, was being used for a photo shoot, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said. A message left with the New York City-based company seeking comment was not immediately returned....
.....Nigron described removing the passengers from the chopper as “one of the most difficult parts” of the search and rescue operation.
Everyone but the pilot was “tightly harnessed,” he said. “These harnesses had to be cut and removed in order to get them off this helicopter, which was upside down at the time and completely submerged.”
That water was 50 feet deep, below 40 degrees and moving at 4 mph, he added.
“It took a while for the divers to get the people out,” Nigron said.
Again....prayers up, for all. So very sad.
Pilot survived the ditching.
Having gone through the helo dunker more times than I care to recall, it is very easy to get disoriented. The key to egress is a hand hold to know where you are. The helo will likely roll, they are top heavy, the engine and transmission are mounted there.
We were trained to wait for motion to stop release your seat belts then egress through the nearest exit. If it was blocked then exit via a crew exit, this was a larger aircraft.
Egressing from this situation with training would be challenging.
What were his age and name before the crash?
;-)
I remember the dunker from the movie “Officer and a gentleman” from when I was 12, and remember saying to myself “well, guess I won’t be pursuing naval aviation”.
Drowning upside down: not for me.
They got rid of that dunker, and replaced it with a more evil helicopter simulation. The helo dunker was recently replaced with a more evil version that randomly flips to various angles. I think the airplane dunker was discontinued soon after I went through flight training. 1991 or so.
Still hard to believe all the pax died.
If,by chance,the "USN" in your screen name means Navy then you've got this old Army guy beat when it comes to discussions of bodies of water.But the report I saw indicated that they had the belts that go over *both* shoulders rather than one.That's why I used "fighter pilot type".
Like I said,if you're Navy...or former Navy...I'll defer to your judgement here.
I have flown in several models of AS350s and never saw the H harness for pax in the back, but they could have a special configuration.
It looked like a soft landing. You would think the passengers would undo harnesses instantly.
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