1w ago

Helicopter in fatal New York crash lacked flight recorders, officials say

www.theguardian.com

Chuck Schumer calls on tour company to halt flights as NTSB investigates crash that killed all six people on board

The helicopter that crashed into New York City’s Hudson River on Thursday – killing all six on board, including three children – lacked flight recorders, said the US’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

It was also on its eighth tour flight of the day, having already completed seven, according to federal investigators.

No video or camera recorders have been recovered from the Bell 206 helicopter, the NTSB said in an update late on Saturday – and none of the equipment on it had recorded information that would help the investigation.

13 comments

Was it supposed to have them? The article doesn't say it was, so I take it this is normal, in which case it's not really newsworthy.
- According to this thread, it's not required for smaller aircraft:
  If the aircraft is below 12500 pounds, and has less than 10 passenger seat, and not be certified to require more than 1 pilot, it does not require recorders.

I guess it will take time to do a proper investigation of the materials like the blades to see if there was a failure there, and where. Someone by now has seen something though and has a theory, they just can't talk yet. There was low fuel mentioned, but running out of fuel doesn't separate rotors from the hub.
- The rotor didn't separate from the hub, the transmission and mast and rotor separated from the helicopter, suddenly and seemingly without warning based on the available video.
  
  Okay, I just saw the one where the rotors were flying apart, I guess after the fact.

The helicopter that crashed into New York City’s Hudson River lacked a teleportation machine, endless pool and petting farm.
Funny thing is, these days, everyone has a phone, and many cars have dashcams.
Wouldn’t a commercial helicopter have a dashcam with audio recording at a minimum these days?
- Does the FAA allow consumer dashcams? I honestly don't know. Just about everything in a Certified Aircraft needs to be certified on it's own.
  General Aviation aircraft aren't required to have flight recorders, AFAIK and I'm certain that if the helicopter was manufactured without one it's not required to upgrade to one even if new helicopters need them.
  
  I've seen Instagram reels from commercial pilots with GoPros and other devices in the cockpit during flight. I assume as long as it's not connected to the aircraft, it's fair game (probably with approval from the airline, though, not just walking in with random personal devices and sticking them up).
- If they don’t have the literal minimum of flight records, I’m guessing any of those other bells and whistles aren’t there either. Like, a real pilot.
- I was going to ask what ruined your day to make you so vile. Then I looked at your comment history and either you're a troll or just a vile person or both.
  
  What an interestingly narrow perspective!
  What I was wondering is, since the aircraft in question was too old to require a flight recorder, did the business, for their own protection, at least have something onboard that recorded video and audio, as “cutting costs” was unlikely to be the reason they wouldn’t have this. And if they didn’t have that for regulatory reasons, had anyone attempted to retrieve the telemetry or the footage from the cellphones of the passengers, since they were on a sightseeing tour and so were likely filming.
  But you do you.

13 comments