Fox News network has published a series of pictures of a Piper Saratoga (N71MC) and a Eurocopter AS350 (N401LH) tour helicopter moments after the two collided in a VFR corridor over the Hudson River, just west of New York City, around noon on Saturday.
Images clearly show that the aircraft's right wing has been severed at the root. All nine passengers in both aircraft perished in the accident, which took place in clear weather.
On board the helicopter were reported to be five Italian tourists and the pilot who had just departed on an air tour from the West 30th street heliport. The single-engine low-wing Piper with three aboard had departed Teterboro airport in New Jersey and was flying eastward toward the ocean coast on a VFR flight, which requires pilots to perform the see-and-avoid task rather than air traffic controllers.
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Pictures below were provided on Flightaware.com discussion site, and are from publicly available Passur data from air traffic control radar. Data purportedly shows the Piper (in red) approaching the river, with several traffic targets in the vicinity. at approximately 1,100ft (335m) altitude. The second map shows the Piper down to 400ft. Investigators have not yet said at what altitude the collision occurred.
An NTSB team is on-site and will provide updates.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
