Gothamist77%
NTSB records point to possible bird strike before deadly Hudson River helicopter crash 68%
By Phil Corso55%
7/16/2026, 8:21:14 PM
Topics: Aviation Safety, Transportation Accidents
BS Summary: This article contains 13 faulty reasoning types, including Post Hoc (False Cause), Ambiguity (Equivocation), and Representativeness Heuristic, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 26.9% saturation with 68 hits. Analysis detected 460 faulty-reasoning hits from 253 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 61.7% and a BS Rank of 68% (5,793 of 17,596 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 67.10% of the article peer group.
Newly released federal investigative records suggest a bird strike may have played a role in last year's Hudson River sightseeing helicopter crash that killed a family of five visiting from Spain and the pilot.
The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released hundreds of pages of factual reports from its ongoing investigation into the April 10, 2025 crash.
The reports do not determine the cause of the accident, which remains under investigation, officials said.
Among the newly released records are findings from the Smithsonian Institution's Feather Identification Lab, which identified bird remains collected from the helicopter wreckage, including evidence consistent with a mixed flock of Brant and Canada geese on the main rotor blades and left horizontal stabilizer.
Investigators also documented a severed bird wing recovered near other helicopter debris.
The operations report said bird remains were found during examinations of the fuselage and rotor blades after the crash.
Witnesses also reported seeing large flocks of birds in the area shortly before the helicopter broke apart over the Hudson River.
At the same time, a separate NTSB video analysis said that available footage showed "no discernible evidence" of a bird strike before the helicopter's in-flight breakup, noting that the videos were limited by distance, lighting, and image quality.
The Bell 206L-4 sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair before crashing into the river near Jersey City, killing six people.
The NTSB has not released its final report or probable cause determination.
Analysis
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