Plane and Helicopter Collide Over Hudson River, Killing 9

According to the Associate Press

NEW YORK – A small plane and a tour helicopter carrying five Italian tourists collided and fell into the Hudson River and onto the New Jersey waterfront Saturday. Authorities believed all nine people on board the two aircraft were killed.

The accident, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg called “not survivable”, happened just after noon and was seen by hundreds and maybe even thousands of people out enjoying a crystal clear summer day.

As a resident of the Port Liberte Community in Jersey City, NJ and working in Hoboken both literally a stones throw from the Hudson, it’s not uncommon for us to see helicopters flying low and erratically in and around Lady Liberty!  As I’ve said in many posts, “with our community as Lady Liberty’s neighbor…we are close enough to see up Lady Liberty’s skirt on a rainy day!

Here’s the question… Aren’t there certain parts of the river that are either no fly zones or require specific flight plans or directional traffic?

The Coast Guard made it abundantly clear to me several years ago that we were too close to the Statue of Liberty while sight seeing with friends on our boat.

Our sincerest prayers go out to all the people effected by this tragedy. God speed the rescue crew in their efforts…