New York City helicopter pilot radioed chopper was running low on fuel shortly after takeoff
Thursday's incident was not the first time the company had been flagged with safety concerns. New York Helicopter had filed for bankruptcy in 2019, citing hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, which were largely for “repair services."
A New York City helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River on Thursday was reportedly running low on fuel at the time, the operating company told reporters on Friday.
Six people died on Thursday after the helicopter appeared to break apart in midair and crash into the Hudson River. The five passengers were part of a family from Spain. The father, a business executive, came to New York on business and brought his family, as his wife and one of their three children, all of whom died, were celebrating birthdays. The sixth death was the pilot, who was a former Navy SEAL, per media reports.
New York Helicopter, which operated the chopper that crashed, said the pilot radioed that he was desperately low on fuel and was heading back to the helipad, the company's CEO Michael Roth told The Telegraph.
“He called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel, and it should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but 20 minutes later, he didn’t arrive,” Roth said. “I got a call from my manager and my downtown heliport and she said she heard there was a crash, and then my phone blew up from everybody. Then one of my pilots flew over the Hudson and saw the helicopter upside down.”
The pilot, identified as 36-year-old Sean Johnson, made the call just before the 3:15 p.m. crash.
Thursday's incident was not the first time the company had been flagged with safety concerns. A former customer previously posted a review on Yelp where he claimed the company was not safe, according to the New York Daily News.
New York Helicopter also filed for bankruptcy in 2019, citing hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, which were largely for “repair services."
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash. The cause of the crash, including what caused the helicopter to break apart, is not currently known.
Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.
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