NYP
Six people are dead after a tourist helicopter carrying a family from Spain “split in half” mid-air and spiraled out of the sky before crashing into the Hudson River Thursday afternoon, according to officials.
Dozens of first responders rushed to the tragic scene after the Bell 206 aircraft, apparently missing its rotors, plunged into the river near Pier 40 in Manhattan near the Hoboken border of New Jersey around 3:15 p.m., the FDNY said.
The head of the Spanish branch of the technology company Siemens and his family were identified as five of the victims who were killed. The sixth victim was the pilot, whose identity has not been announced more
The preliminary description of what happened is very very strange. Split in half…in midair? How does that happen? Was the craft missing those rotor blades before it hit the water? Did the pilot declare an emergency or even say anything reflective of a problem? I’m sure looking forward to getting more info.
And to the six fatalities, Rest In Peace.
I do find this heart breaking. A very happy looking family. That’s a real old Huey. There’s a reason the FAA demands NDT on all structural parts every 6 months. NDT, non destructive tests, to spot cracks and fatigue in metal structural parts. It works. I would suspect someone was falsifying records. And now people are dead. To our total Libertarian type here, this is why you need Government.
“Dozens of first responders…”
No, dammit, not everyone who shows up in a uniform is a FIRST Respon…oh, to hell with it.
^^^^ Well if they got there first! What the heck. Snicker.
Take a look at this video, stepping slowly for the first second or so:
https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1910426210611458359
The whole rotor assembly, intact, has separated from the drive shaft. There are maybe three or four other unidentifiable pieces falling as well, large enough to be readily visible in the video. I don’t know what mechanical failure could cause this (but there’s a lot I don’t know, doncha know). Midair collision with invisible drone? Alien death ray?
Another view:
https://youtu.be/mXmBJk_8460?si=GfA_3t0nmialm1RI
I believe the “Jesus Nut” could have failed. Some of you guys that served in Viet Nam may reply to this. Isn’t that what Huey’s had?
I dunno. I’ve seen about 12 different views of this crash. You need to remember you have a fairly large fan at the tail end of the aircraft spinning like a son of a bitch. When it runs into the rest of the aircraft somethings gotta give. I’m by no means a forensic crash expert. I build aircraft structural parts for a living and can tell you major stress points in a design. Helicopters vibrate. Probably what they do best. Metal doesn’t like vibration. I’m still going with structural failure. Nice paint job though. I’ll leave it to the rest of you.
Word is this is a Bell 206 Longranger IV, which is one of the more recent types. First flight of the 206 was in the early 60’s, and it was produced from the late 60’s until 2017 or so… Lots of time to work out the bugs, and find all the gotchas…
But it was in sightseeing duty. It took 3 children. Siemens has a lot of US presence. The FAA crew will dig deep on this one.
KR
@Bad_Brad,
Looks like the father was the global CEO for Siemens Rail & Mobility. That would include the South Sacramento plant with the 5 story tall 5 axis locomotive frame CNC machine.
KR
There are reports there was a loud bang, like a “sonic Boom”, just before the crash. Also the pilot had called in and said he was out of fuel.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14597589/nyc-helicopter-crash-pilot-radio-call-hudson-river.html
“There are reports there was a loud bang, like a “sonic Boom””
Why do some conservatives jump on this shit so fast? More tin foil please.
May have been result of same thing that happened to a dude I knew.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/thomas-stewart-helicopter-crash-daughter-sydney_n_2113529
If you are not familiar with Tom Stewart, he hosted an annual Republican picnic on his farm on Vashon Island. Really nice guy.
Kali Refugee in Texas
I’m very familiar with Siemen’s in South Sac. The Biden admin awarded them a huge contract for electric trains. They had no design. Go figure. They will eventually fail when that money runs out. Never done a lick of work for them. About two years ago I get an email from their purchasing manager, “Hey, how come you never quote us?” I have a rep around here. I answered back, probably because you never send me any quotes. Two days later some low level purchasing agent sends me a couple quotes. They didn’t even bother BCC. There were at least 50 shops on that e mail. So I answered back, copying the purchasing manager and everyone else, never send me quotes like this again. If you have a part nobody else can make, send it to me. But this is beyond stupid. That’s my story about Sieamens.
“South Sacramento plant with the 5 story tall 5 axis locomotive frame CNC machine”
Lol. So what do you think they’re doing with this thing? Machining box cars out of solid billet? LOL. It’s all sales bull shit to keep the fed gravy train going. They’ve never machined jack shit on this thing. They have a permanent add on Indeed looking for someone who can drive tool path on this mess. But, that;s not the problem.
DEI mechanics?
It looks like the tail assembly is missing, ergo no ability to autorotate
“So what do you think they’re doing with this thing?”
When my wife worked there they were machining S70 streetcar frames. But that was more than a decade ago, and she was only there for about 16 months before we moved back to Texas. The rest I’ll just take as your personal experience with them. I agree, asking for quotes from 50+ shops in one email where everyone can see who the competition is… seriously boneheaded. Even a fresh out of college noob should know better.
Took two years to get my kids back on track after what the Kali school’s did to them! 🙁
KR