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Pilot Shares Alarming Detail In Photo Of Helicopter’s Tail Before It Took Off And Claimed 6 Lives
Interview With ExpertA retired pilot noticed something unusual about the tail of the helicopter that crashed in New York City on Thursday (April 10), claiming six lives.
User @4SakenGhost, who, according to his bio, used to pilot the US Army’s Black Hawk helicopter, took to social media to share a detail that “didn’t look right” to him.
“I’ve been seeing the photos and footage of the tragic helicopter crash today in NYC,” he began. “I hate this cr*p. Breaks my heart. Saw the video and a picture of the family before they took off. So sad.
Highlights
- A retired pilot spotted a detail he found unusual about the helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River in New York City.
- He noted what appeared to be a mismatch where the helicopter’s tail met the main fuselage.
- The tragedy claimed six lives on Thursday (April 10), including a family of five and the 36-year-old pilot.
“But witnesses said the helicopter broke apart in flight. I noticed something.”
@4SakenGhost shared a photo of the aircraft on the ground before the fatal accident.
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A retired pilot noticed a detail on the tail of the helicopter that crashed in NYC that “didn’t look right” to him
Image credits: James Devaney/Getty Images
“That doesn’t look right to me where the tail joins the main fuselage,” he noted.
“Paint doesn’t match. Looks like a repair or something and the tail right at that point I circled was gone from the fuselage clearly in the crash footage. That is where the tail attaches to the main fuselage on that type of aircraft.”
He concluded: “Aviation is so dangerous. It’s unforgiving. I’ve lost friends to it when I was serving and seeing stuff like this and what I pointed out just k*lls me inside.”
Image credits: New York Helicopter
Image credits: Mercè Camprubí Montal/Facebook
As of Friday, the cause of the crash remains unknown. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have launched an investigation.
The helicopter was flying within New York’s Special Flight Rules Area in New York, where air traffic control support is limited, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy wrote on social media.
Witnesses described the helicopter, operated by the tour company New York Helicopter, flipping and spiraling before plunging into the Hudson River.
The helicopter crashed into the Hudson River, claiming six lives, including a family of five and the pilot
Hudson River Helicopter crash @fox5ny@ABC7@NBCNewYork@CBSNewYork@njdotcom@News12NJ@CNN@cnnbrk
Credit: Bruce Wall pic.twitter.com/CVy249wApx
— SangriaUltra (@xpertcommander) April 10, 2025
Dr. Dan Bubb, an expert in commercial aviation and former pilot, said it’s too early to draw conclusions about the crash.
“Unless the helicopter collided with an object, it seems that there was some sort of catastrophic mechanical failure,” Dr. Bubb told Bored Panda via email.
“At this point, I don’t think it is helpful to speculate about the place where the tail attaches to the fuselage,” he said when asked about @4SakenGhost’s theory.
Image credits: theaxalam
“The helicopter was a little bit like nose down, slightly, and I saw the propeller separating from the helicopter. It kept spinning in the air alone. Nothing was attached to it,” Sarah Jane Raymond Ryer, who saw the crash, told WCBS.
Jersey City resident Jenn Lynk said, “It sounded like an engine came out.”
Other witnesses described seeing the helicopter “split in half” before it went down near Pier 40.
Footage of the accident shows the rotor blades detached from the aircraft and flying through the air.
The former pilot observed what appeared to be a mismatch at the point where the tail connected to the main fuselage
Image credits: 4SakenGhost
Analyzing the video, aviation experts have suggested the accident likely occurred because the main rotor blades separated from the helicopter and cut off the tail.
Such a scenario would have been unrecoverable, said JP Tristani.
“If that articulating head actually separated from the aircraft, the aircraft was doomed. There’s no possibility of that aircraft ever having made a normal type of landing. It was going to crash.
“When you throw a blade, one blade or the entire head, no, you’re just a falling brick.”
Image credits: 4SakenGhost
There is also the possibility that the accident was triggered by an abrupt movement of the control stick.
“Since this is a helicopter (Bell 206) with a semi-rigid system, a sudden forward push on the control stick could have caused excessive rotor flexing,” a spokesperson from the aviation school Aeroclub Estartit told Bored Panda.
“An impact with a bird or large object may also have damaged a critical part of the system.”
The helicopter was flying in NYC’s Special Flight Rules Area, where air traffic control is limited
The main rotor and tail boom separated mid-air. Rotor blades were fully detached from the fuselage but continued spinning as they fell.#HudsonRiver#HelicopterCrash#Breakingpic.twitter.com/xrMUQ5SMRr
— Turbine Traveller (@Turbinetraveler) April 10, 2025
Michael Roth, who owns the New York Helicopter company, claimed that the aircraft was running out of fuel before it crashed.
“He [the pilot] 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.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” he told the New York Post.
Image credits: mmpadellan
The 71-year-old CEO said he had never “seen anything like that” in his 30 years in the business.
“The only thing I could guess – I got no clue – is that it either had a bird strike or the main rotor blades failed. I have no clue. I don’t know.”
Roth said he was “absolutely devastated” by the tragedy.
“But you gotta remember something, these are machines and they break,” he added.
The Bell 206 helicopter was operated by tour company New York Helicopter
Image credits: Lokman Vural Elibol/Getty Images
The Bell 206 helicopter flew for about 16 minutes before going down into the water. After circling the Statue of Liberty, it flew along the Hudson River, reaching the George Washington Bridge. It later turned south along the New Jersey shoreline, where it lost control, as per CNN.
The victims include Agustín Escobar, a Siemens executive from Spain, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, a global manager at the same company, and their three children, aged four, five, and eleven, along with the 36-year-old unidentified pilot.
The FAA and NTSB are investigating the crash
I’ve been seeing the photos and footage of the tragic helicopter crash today in NYC. I hate this crap. Breaks my heart. Saw the video and a picture of the family before they took off. So sad.
But witnesses said the helicopter broke apart in flight.
I noticed something.… pic.twitter.com/0HJuVc5xR1
— 4Saken (@4SakenGhost) April 11, 2025
Over the years, there have been multiple helicopter crashes in New York City. In 2018, a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights went down into the East River. All five passengers drowned.
The helicopter reportedly crashed when the tail got caught on the fuel shutoff lever.
“I want to see the maintenance records,” one reader commented
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What do you think ?
Richard Carpentiere 7 months ago (edited)
I'm an airframe license Aircraft mechanic. 40 years. My specialty is structures and sheet metal. I saw your post so I decided to check it out. You are correct on the mismatched paint... But what's More troubling... if I am correct. There seems to be a repair there... a square repair.... I had to zoom in zoom out. Change the context to see the rivets clearly or semi clearly. But what you can see clearly is there is only one row of rivets around what looks to be a patch/ repair. If it is a repair It is clearly an illegal repair and certainly would cause structural failure at that critical point of the helicopter. Anytime you do a repair on any aircraft, especially helicopters, two rows of rivets are required all the way around .... That sheet metal 101 ....I have sent the pics to The NTSB website for tips on this crash. They have way better technology than I do with this cell phone, and can do the research to see if it is a repair. They can look up the maintenance records.
Jerry Perkins 7 months ago
That's an inspection panel for inspecting the tailboom. I know because I work at a Bell helicopter repair station in South East Texas.
Load More Replies...
UKDeek 7 months ago
Certainly not lack of fuel as one commenter said; if it ran out of fuel then the pilot could autorotate into a landing somewhere. Very odd though that the tail and main rotor separated, so probably either lack of maintenance or maintained by someone with questionable competence!
Motivated sloth 7 months ago
Yes the helicopter running out of fuel causing the rotor to detach was a…wild suggestion
Load More Replies... Richard Carpentiere 7 months ago (edited)
I'm an airframe license Aircraft mechanic. 40 years. My specialty is structures and sheet metal. I saw your post so I decided to check it out. You are correct on the mismatched paint... But what's More troubling... if I am correct. There seems to be a repair there... a square repair.... I had to zoom in zoom out. Change the context to see the rivets clearly or semi clearly. But what you can see clearly is there is only one row of rivets around what looks to be a patch/ repair. If it is a repair It is clearly an illegal repair and certainly would cause structural failure at that critical point of the helicopter. Anytime you do a repair on any aircraft, especially helicopters, two rows of rivets are required all the way around .... That sheet metal 101 ....I have sent the pics to The NTSB website for tips on this crash. They have way better technology than I do with this cell phone, and can do the research to see if it is a repair. They can look up the maintenance records.
Jerry Perkins 7 months ago
That's an inspection panel for inspecting the tailboom. I know because I work at a Bell helicopter repair station in South East Texas.
Load More Replies... UKDeek 7 months ago
Certainly not lack of fuel as one commenter said; if it ran out of fuel then the pilot could autorotate into a landing somewhere. Very odd though that the tail and main rotor separated, so probably either lack of maintenance or maintained by someone with questionable competence!
Motivated sloth 7 months ago
Yes the helicopter running out of fuel causing the rotor to detach was a…wild suggestion
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