Doomed helicopter in Hudson River crash was on eighth flight of day and lacked flight recorder: officials
The doomed helicopter that crashed in the Hudson River killing six Thursday was on its eighth flight of the day and lacked a flight recorder, according to officials.
The Bell 206 L-4 helicopter that crashed, tragically killing a family of five and a pilot, had completed seven tour flights on Thursday leading up to the doomed trip around the Hudson River, the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday night.
Officials stated that the chopper was not equipped with any flight recorders and no video or camera recorders have been recovered.
Further, none of the helicopter’s onboard audio recorded information has been recovered, the release stated.
Much of the decimated helicopter was recovered — including the cockpit and cabin, the forward portion of the tail boom, the horizontal stabilizer finlets, and the vertical fin, NTSB said in the release. The main rotor blades have not yet been found.
All pieces of wreckage from the tragic craft are being transported to NTSB laboratories in Washington DC as part of the investigation, which still has not determined a cause.
The agency revealed the last major inspection of the helicopter took place on Mar. 1.
On Thursday, the Bell 206 L-4 helicopter was on the back half of a sightseeing trip up the Hudson River, carrying a family of five from Spain when it violently fell from the air and into the frigid water.
Augustin Escobar, Merce Montal, and their three children — Augustin 10, Mercedes, 8, and Victor, 4 — all perished in the helicopter piloted by Navy veteran Sean Johnson, who also died.
