New details have emerged regarding the final moments of the helicopter that plunged into the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey, on Thursday afternoon.
The pilot of the doomed aircraft reportedly radioed about needing to refuel minutes before the helicopter crashed into the chilly waters, according to New York Helicopter Tour CEO Michael Roth, whose company operated the helicopter.
“[The pilot] called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel, and it should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but 20 minutes later, he didn’t arrive,” Roth told The Telegraph.
All six people on board – including five members of the same family – did not survive.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” Roth told the New York Post. “I haven’t seen anything like that in my 30 years being in business, in the helicopter business. The only thing I could guess – I got no clue – is that it either had a bird strike or the main rotor blades failed. I have no clue. I don’t know.”
The five passengers have been identified as Siemens