Bell LongRanger Crashes into Hudson River, Killing Six

A Bell 206L4 LongRanger helicopter crashed into the Hudson River at about 3:15 p.m. today. A video that captured the accident appears to show the airframe, without its tail boom, descending into the river also without its main rotor blades, which can be seen still rotating but separated from the rest of the helicopter, along with other parts. The main portion of the helicopter crashed into the water near Pier 25, followed by the main rotor blades further west but still in the river.

AirNav Radar flight tracking captured the final ADS-B signal showing the helicopter descending at 3,456 fpm.

The helicopter is registered to Meridian Helicopters in Broussard, Louisiana, according to the FAA’s registry database. It was operated by New York Helicopter Charter, according to the Private Aviation Safety Alliance’s database of charter operators.

According to news reports, the six people aboard the helicopter perished. The FAA issued a statement saying that it and the NTSB will investigate the accident and that the NTSB “will lead the investigation and provide any updates.”

During a briefing today, the NTSB said it had recovered the helicopter's airframe and engine, and dive teams are recovering more of the wreckage. The pilot had logged 450 hours of flight time, and the NTSB was still researching how much of that was in a Bell 206-L4. NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy asked the public to provide any photos or videos of the accident to [email protected]. "What we are doing here is gathering the perishable evidence, the evidence that we need to gather for our investigation," she said.