Investigators weigh in on deadly helicopter crash on Hudson River
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- In the coming days, weeks and months, investigators will be digging into the helicopter company at the center of Thursday's deadly crash on the Hudson River.
Eyewitness News has found the company has a fairly strong safety record with just two NTSB reports in over 30 years of operation.
The most recent incident dates back to 2015, when a helicopter makes a hard landing. It was previously owned by a foreign company and had a part on it that had been incorrectly repaired. After taking off the paint on the chopper, investigators had found a red 'X' on the part, which in aviation means 'do not use.' Before that, in 2013, the chopper made an emergency water landing, but in this case the floats inflated and everyone on board was okay.
One pilot was flying for the same company, in the same model chopper, in almost the same location. In two previous safety incidents there was one thing in common -- mechanical issues.
Federal investigators are working right now to find out what caused Thursday's helicopter to break apart in mid-air.
Eyewitness News cameras were rolling back in June of 2013 when a family of four from Sweden remarkably walked to safety after the tour helicopter they were riding on made an emergency landing on the Hudson River.
It was the same model aircraft, a Bell 206, that was involved in Thursday's crash -- operated by the same tour company.
Officials attributed the family's survival to the quick thinking of the pilot, who was just 23 years old at the time.
Mike Campell has since moved upstate, but was shocked to see Thursday's crash on the news in a similar model helicopter.
"It's a fluke, it's an anomaly, I've never seen it in my experience sometimes - you've never even seen them come apart after they land and roll over," Campell said.
The Federal Report showed the cause of the crash was 'improper maintenance of a high oil pressure problem on the chopper.
"Even though you do your pre-flight inspection and you're looking at the aircraft, I can't see inside a gear box, neither can any other pilot. You can't see the stress fractures in metal," said Campbell.
The same tour company had one other incident two years later that did not get as much publicity. A federal report shows a different pilot made a hard landing in New Jersey after losing control.
It was due to the 'deliberate concealment and reuse of an unairworthy tail rotor driveshaft by unknown personnel.'
"For that time frame, it's not reflective of any poor maintenance," said aviation expert JP Tristani.
Tristani says that two accidents in 30 years is not a cause for concern, but says Thursday's crash was unprecedented with the blades and metal detaching in midair.
"This is a one-time event in my experience," he says.
Now, Federal investigators are on scene trying to figure out what went wrong.
"I know they'll figure out the root cause but in my experience dealing with the organization, I never had any doubts about the maintenance with the New York Helicopters we always, you know, everything was always on point when I was there," said Cambell.
"Where things don't make sense is the separation of parts of the aircraft," said NewsCopter 7 reporter John Del Giorno. "That video we see right there, that looks like the rotor blade came off the aircraft."
There are different safety inspections for different helicopters based on who they are carrying. The NTSB has had a long history of concern that they don't have the same maintenance and operational requirements.
In the case from 2015 with the unairworthy part, the company told the NTSB at the time it had just purchased a chopper from a different owner and the parts in question were freshly painted when it arrived.
The company's owner told Eyewitness News on Thursday he was 'devastated' by eh crash, but has not made any public comments on Friday.
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