The Hudson River in New York saw yet another air crash on Wednesday, 15 May when a helicopter went down.
The pilot was the only person on board, and fortunately survived the crash, emerging relatively unscathed with a cut on his hand. According to reports, he’d missed the helipad landing and went plunging into the part of the river near the Lincoln Tunnel beneath the Hudson.
This is the second aircraft to meet an undesirable yet non-fatal landing on the river, 10 years after the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ plane crash when the heroic Captain Sully saved the passengers and crew of an Airbus A320 in January 2009.
In a video filmed by an eyewitness, of the helicopter’s crash-landing, the aircraft can be seen flying over the river where a boat is sailing along in the opposite direction. The chopper was still quite high above the water when it began to spin around, the pilot evidently losing control as the craft spiralled downwards. There’s a brown, dusty puff of smoke just before the helicopter hits the water, where a huge splash signals its entry, and a shiny black chopper part goes flying into the air from the impact.
The shiny black helicopter is considered by many to be the ‘Uber of helicopters’. It’s part of the Blade chopper line that was launched five years ago to speedily shuttle passengers across the waters from New York City to Manhattan, a popular form of transport for the rich and famous en route to the Hamptons or even Coachella.
Fortunately, the Blade helicopter was not carrying any passengers and only the pilot, who before the crash had been heading out to refuel the craft.
Terrifying video shows a helicopter spiraling out of control before crashing into the Hudson River. Thankfully, the pilot survived. https://t.co/UOejG4cI80 pic.twitter.com/PyJ0zZ1mDy
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) May 15, 2019
Featured image a screenshot of footage via Eyewitness News ABC7NY
