The New York City helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River had experienced a mechanical issue months prior to the fatal incident that claimed the lives of all six individuals on board, including a family of tourists from Spain. According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the ill-fated Bell206L-4 LongRanger IV aircraft, owned and operated by New York Helicopter, encountered a transmission assembly problem in September of the previous year. The aircraft, built in 2004 and with over 12,000 hours of flight time, required repairs following the mechanical issue.
An investigation is currently underway to determine the cause of the crash, examining factors such as the pilot’s experience, the wreckage, and the operations of the sightseeing tour company. Additionally, maintenance work on the helicopter, including compliance with recent safety directives issued by the FAA for Bell 206L model helicopters, will be reviewed. One directive focused on inspecting and potentially replacing main rotor blades to address delamination issues, while another required testing and potential replacement of tail rotor shafts to prevent failures.
The National Transportation Safety Board Chair mentioned that the rotors of the crashed aircraft are still missing, and search efforts are ongoing to locate pieces of the helicopter. The tragic incident occurred during a tour flight that took off from Manhattan’s Downtown Skyport, carrying a family from Barcelona, Spain, and piloted by Sean Johnson, a Navy veteran. This is not the first time New York Helicopter has experienced an incident involving one of its aircraft in the Hudson River.
In a previous incident in June 2013, a Bell 206 helicopter from the tour company crash-landed in the river with Swedish tourists on board, who fortunately survived along with the pilot and family members. Despite routine inspections, the cause of the helicopter malfunction during the flight was unclear to the company CEO at the time.
On April 10, 2025, a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River, with its wreckage partially submerged in the water. First responders were on scene, working around the crash site. Twelve years later, the CEO of New York Helicopter, Michael Roth, expressed his devastation and confusion over the incident. Roth mentioned that the main rotor blades were not on the helicopter at the time of the crash, something he had never seen before in his decades of experience in the industry. The helicopter was lifted out of the water in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Roth speculated that the crash may have been caused by a bird strike or a failure of the main rotor blades. Despite the tragic event, Roth emphasized that machines can break down, and the helicopter had been issued an airworthiness certificate valid through 2029 in 2016.
