9 Killed as Airplane, Helicopter Collide

NEW YORK: A tour helicopter carrying five Italian tourists collided with a small plane over the Hudson River, on a crystal-clear summer afternoon, ripping the rotor blades from the helicopter and severing one of the plane’s wings, sending both aircraft plunging into the murky water and killing all nine people on board.

Witnesses to the crash described how debris from the two aircraft disappeared within seconds beneath the water’s surface, and rescue workers soon determined that there were no survivors, officials said.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I) said the plane, which had just left Teterboro, N.J., was carrying a pilot and two passengers, including a child. The helicopter, which had just taken off from Manhattan’s West 30th Street heliport, carried a pilot and five Italian tourists.

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9 Killed as Airplane, Helicopter Collide