AS350 Helo, Piper Saratoga, Involved In Collision That Killed 9

ANN RealTime Update, 08.09.09, 0002 EDT: Current news reports indicate that three bodies (including, tragically, a child that was reported to have been on board the Saratoga) have been recovered from what is expected to be a total count of nine fatalities in Saturday afternoon's midair collision between a Piper Saratoga and an AS350 tourist helo.

NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman has reported that a Liberty helicopter pilot, on the ground refueling, apparently witnessed the poential for a colision and attempted to transmit a warning. "He saw the single-engine aircraft approaching behind the helicopter, and told them 'One Lima Hotel you have a fixed wing behind you,' says Hersman. She added that, "He saw the right wing of the plane contact the helicopter. The right wing fell. Then both aircraft."

As expected, politics has already reared its ugly head long before the bodies are collected and much longer before salient facts can be presented, analyzed and judged by experts... and by experts we mean folks who can actually spell "aileron." So far, New jersey Governor Corzine has weighed in and called for an examination of a system that has otherwise worked well for tens of thousands of aircraft who have used it over the years. Further; the Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer, is grabbing some headlines with additional comments and questions that seem destined to make sure he gets some time on the evening news. Of course, the fact that the NTSB has a 'Go' Team on site, which will bring the proper expertise and scrutiny to this tragedy -- and from real-live aviation experts, seems to have escaped them.

We expect more chest-thumping and political posturing in a matter of hours... and we'd place serious money that Senator "Screw The Facts, Ground Them All" Schumer is already practicing his best righteous indignation act before the mirror in prep for the Sunday talk shows. We'll keep you updated, of course... but we advise one and all to hold on to your hats and expect more myopic posturing, finger-pointing, and hand-wringing, as well as the obligatory, overwrought, emotional calls for various flight bans, in the next few hours. -- News/Analysis by ANN Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell

ANN RealTime Update, 080809, 1613 EDT: The NTSB has confirmed that nine persons are involved in this acccident and that the aircraft involved are a PA32R-300 (Saratoga) and an AS350 BA helicopter. New York mayor Bloomberg, a rated helicopter pilot, is being quoted as reporting that the Piper flew into the helicopter, but the NTSB has thus far NOT confirmed this report.

Original Report: ANN is monitoring media reports of a midair collision that took place over New York's Hudson River... not far from the final resting place of the infamous US Air Flight 1549 A320 ditching last January.

Initial reports had originally and erroneously indicated that a Piper Arrow (though other sources properly ID'ed the aircraft as a non-specific PA-32, which might have made it either a Cherokee 6, Lance, or Saratoga) that departed nearby Teterboro airport shortly before noon, where it headed to and over the Hudson River. The helicopter, a Eurocopter AS350, was being operated by Liberty Tours. Eyewitnesses state that the aircraft and helicopter collided over the river and that both quickly descended to impact the river. Police sources have reported that there were six persons on board the AS350 but no pax count is currently available for the Piper.

PA32R-300 File Photo

The Piper was reported to be Southbound over the river and in contact with local controllers at Newark Airport when contact was lost. No info is available as to whether the helo was in contact with any controlling authority.

While initial reports are sketchy, and of questionable accuracy for the moment, a number of eyewitness statements seem to indicate that the helo did take a rotor strike, and that the Piper appears to have lost either a wing or horizontal surface before it spun into the water. ANN is monitoring the situation and will update the story as verifiable information becomes available.

FMI: www.libertyhelicopters.com, www.ntsb.gov