A deadly mid-air collision between a tourist helicopter and a small plane over New York’s Hudson River has revived fears about the safety of sight-seeing flights in America.
Nine people, including five Italian tourists, died when the helicopter was hit from behind by a single-engine Piper aircraft on Saturday.
Joggers watched in shock as the two aircraft plunged into the Hudson and sank with everyone on board.
“First I saw a piece of something flying through the air. Then I saw the helicopter going down into the water,” Kelly Owen said. “I thought it was my imagination.”
The five dead Italian tourists were identified as Fabio Gallazzi, 49, his wife Tiziana, 45, their son Giacomo, 16, and Michele Norelli, 52, and his son Filippo, 17.
They were part of a group of about a dozen family and friends from Bologna visiting New York. Mr Norelli’s wife, Silvia, a primary school teacher, was also in New York but had been too afraid to fly in the helicopter.
The helicopter pilot was identified as Jeremy Clark.
The aircraft was piloted by Steven Altman, 60, the head of a property investment firm. He had picked up his brother, Daniel, 49, and nephew Douglas, 16, at Teterboro airport, New Jersey, for a trip to the Jersey shore.
Divers pulled the body of a seventh victim from the river late yesterday and were searching for the final two.
The collision took place on the same stretch of river where a US Airways pilot safely crash-landed an airliner on January 15, saving all 155 people on board.
The accident on Saturday reignited concern over the lax rules for so-called “on-demand flight operations” by commercial planes that seat fewer than 30 people.
The National Transportation Safety Board has made 16 safety recommendations about “on-demand” flights since 2002 but the Federal Aviation Administration has not implemented any of them
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