Divers return to the murky waters of the Hudson River on Monday to continue the search for bodies and wreckage following Saturday's mid-air crash.
A helicopter and a small plane carrying a total of nine people hit and crashed into the river near New York City.
The bodies of two people and the plane's wreckage remain unrecovered.
The investigation into the crash is expected to take months, but there have already been calls for safety regulations to be re-examined.
The skies immediately above the Hudson River are crowded - largely with helicopters carrying tourists.
Wife 'refused to fly'
Divers have recovered the bodies of seven victims of the crash, leaving two unrecovered - the plane's pilot and an adult passenger.
Map
The wreckage of the helicopter has been removed, but plane parts remain under water. They have been located with a sonar scanner and engineer crews expect to retrieve them on Monday.
The victims of the crash were two families.
Michele Norelli, 51, was visiting with family members from Italy, reported AP news agency.
He was celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary, and was on the helicopter flight with his teenage son and other family members, as well as pilot Jeremy Clarke.
But his wife, Silvia, was afraid to fly and stayed on the ground, a family friend told AP.
In the plane were Daniel Altman and his son Douglas, from Pennsylvania, along with pilot Steven Altman, AP said.
Safety review call
The investigation into the crash - New York's worst air disaster for eight years - has begun and is expected to take months.
Neither aircraft was required to carry flight data or cockpit voice recorders.
Witnesses said the small plane approached the helicopter from behind and clipped it with a wing.
Deborah Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the plane had taken off from Teterboro Airport but responsibility for tracking it had been handed over to controllers at Newark airport.
The pilot had been told to contact the Newark control tower but had not done so, she said.
The crash has renewed calls for a review of safety in the zone about 1,000 feet (305m) above the Hudson River.
Some pilots told the New York Times that they had to be extremely vigilant when flying in the crowded zone.
0 comments:
Post a Comment