A sightseeing helicopter that plunged into the Hudson River near New York City last year, killing a family of five and the pilot, crashed after hitting a flock of geese, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a series of investigative reports released on Thursday.

Investigation Details

The Bell 206L-4, operated by New York Helicopters, took off from lower Manhattan on April 11, 2025, circling the Statue of Liberty, before flying north along the Hudson River. After turning back south, the aircraft was near the New Jersey shoreline when it broke apart in the air, flipping and spiraling into the water.

A mixed-species flock of Brant and Canada Geese impacted the rotor blades and the rear of the aircraft, the Smithsonian Institution’s feather identification lab determined. The NTSB’s more than 2,000 pages of investigative materials do not state a probable cause of the crash. A determination is expected in the final report, which the NTSB told CNN is “likely” to come by the end of the year.

One witness in a nearby apartment complex said he saw the helicopter “fall like a brick” into the water, investigators wrote in a report. He remembered “hundreds of birds” flying in the area but could not recall how high they were flying.

Another witness was running along the Hudson when about 20 “very big, fat birds” took flight in front of her and headed toward the river. About two minutes later, she heard a “bang” overhead, but she did not notice any birds near the helicopter as it broke apart midair.

The victims in the crash included three children and their parents – who both worked for Siemens, a German multinational technology conglomerate. The pilot was also killed.

Over 24,000 incidents of aircraft hitting animals were reported in the Federal Aviation Administration’s wildlife strike database last year. More than 1,000 of those were determined to have happened in New York or New Jersey.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.