NEW YORK (WABC) — The remains of several geese were found on the wreckage of a sightseeing helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River last year in New York City and killed six people, investigators said Thursday.
The National Transportation Safety Board reports released Thursday describe evidence and witness reports suggesting the helicopter struck several birds before it plummeted into the river on April 10, 2025.
Kaily Furlot was one of the people who witnessed the chopper crash. She can never forget seeing the helicopter drop from the sky like a rock. She was one of the eyewitnesses interviewed by the NTSB, but before the Bell 206 broke apart midair, she noticed something.
“Not looking like it was bits of the helicopter it looked like there was something else – and when I had given the statement I had said I thought it was a bird. It looked like there were feathers in the sky,” she said.
According to a bird expert from the Smithsonian Institute, a mixed species flock of Brant and Canada geese impacted the rotor blades and the horizontal stabilizer.
And a great black-backed gull was hit by flying debris from the tail section at force enough to mangle the bird and cause the bird wing to separate and come to rest on the rooftop with other helicopter debris.
The Federal Aviation Administration has said that helicopters are especially vulnerable to bird strikes because they fly at low altitudes. Helicopter bird strikes are unusual, but they can be devastating.
For former Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, this adds to the reasons he’s against helicopter tourism on the Hudson.
“We are in one of the most densely populated areas in the country,” he said. “Big buildings, a lot of people on the ground, and very busy air traffic control going on between Newark Airport, LaGuardia and JFK, and so you are only adding to it.”
The victims of last year’s accident included a Siemens business executive from Spain, his family and the pilot. Passengers Agustin Escobar, 49; his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their three children, Victor, 4; Mercedes, 8; and Agustin, 10, all died. The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who received his commercial pilot’s license in 2023.
Attorneys for the Camprubi-Montal family released a statement on Thursday night, saying, “We are reviewing the great deal of information released by the NTSB. It is important to remember that this is a docket of information and not conclusions about the cause of the crash. A careful analysis of all the facts and data will need to be undertaken to understand the complete picture surrounding this tragic crash.”
The crash renewed safety concerns about the popular sightseeing flights and prompted New Jersey’s governor to ask for additional restrictions on nonessential helicopter flights.
The information released Thursday by the NTSB is part of an ongoing investigation as authorities work to nail down a probable cause and all contributing factors.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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