NY Helicopter Owner Mike Roth took a phone call Sunday morning that he'll never forget from calm cool pilot, 23-year-old Michael Campbell, who'd just made that emergency landing on the Hudson with 4 Swedish tourists on board.
"He says I just landed in the Hudson," Roth explained. "I was in disbelief, all the way down to my toes, like a fish out of water. I said 'Are you ok?'"
Campbell had deployed the pontoons, which aren't required on sightseeing helicopters, but Roth says they're a no-brainer, even though they cost $150,000.
"I will not fly without those," he said.
The chopper was put on a flatbed truck on Monday and taken to a hangar on Long Island where it's being inspected by Federal investigators and the engine's manufacturer.
Campbell dropped out of college to go to flight school. His grandmother told me by phone from Buffalo her grandson was thinking about her when he gave her the news.
"'I didn't mean to scare you.' That's what he said," she explained. "He does not like to be in the spotlight. He is low profile. He was worried more about his passengers, you know."
His boss says Campbell is finishing up some reports but should be back up in the air later this week.
The emergency landing on the Hudson River was reminiscent of another one where all aboard escaped unharmed. In 2009, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III safely landed a US Airways flight after striking a flock of geese. All 155 people aboard survived.
But other aviation incidents over the waterways surrounding Manhattan have been deadly. /p>
In 2011, a helicopter crashed into the East River. Two passengers were killed at the scene, and a third died a month later.
And in 2009, a collision between a tour helicopter and a small plane over the Hudson River killed nine people.
