BAG ‘HIT FUEL SWITCH’ BEFORE HELICOPTER CRASHED
A PILOT who survived a helicopter crash that killed his five passengers said he believed a passenger’s bag might have hit an emergency fuel shut-off switch before the chopper went down.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would look at the switch, the chopper’s flotation devices and even the photos on passengers’ cameras to figure out what caused the crash on Sunday in New York’s East River.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday,” pilot Richard Vance said in an emergency radio call as the Eurocopter AS350 tour helicopter foundered. “East River – engine failure.” The chopper flipped over and quickly sank, killing a Texas firefighter, an Argentine woman, a young video journalist, a former basketball team assistant and another person on what authorities said was a charter flight to take photos.
A floating crane raised the submerged helicopter to the surface yesterday and towed it off to be examined.
Witnesses to the crash said the helicopter was flying noisily, then suddenly dropped and quickly submerged.
It capsized in water about 15m deep.