Investigators probing the deadly Hudson River helicopter crash will zero in on the pilot’s experience and whether possible mechanical failure was to blame for the ill-fated flight over New York City, sources told The Post.
Six people, including an entire family on vacation from Spain, were killed when the sightseeing chopper broke apart in midair and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
As officials work to determine what caused the tragedy, the National Transportation Safety Board will examine whether the pilot was forced to make an “extreme maneuver” just moments before — or if there was error on their part, according to the sources.
“There’s pilot error where pilots fly into weather and they shouldn’t. Then there’s pilot error … where something happens, and [does the pilot] know how to handle it,” one source explained.
The pilot, who hasn’t been identified publicly, could have also experienced a massive transmission failure in the lead-up to the wreck, according to another source.
“It’s possible something happened with that transmission and the pilot tried to fight it rather than go into auto rotation and then transmission seizes… It’s possible,” the source said.
The initial source said officials will be looking at whether the pilot was forced into an evasive maneuver.
“If there was a failure — such as a transmission failure — evasive maneuvers are fine in flying … it’s when they’re violent, or unnatural, they can cause problems,” the source said.
“It’s when [there] are extreme [maneuvers], or if a pilot is unnecessarily fighting the helicopter, the ends of rotor blades could strike off a tail boom. This is beyond rare.”
Horrifying footage of the crash suggested that a “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no chance to save the helicopter, according to Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps.
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It is possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom — breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free-fall and plunge into the frigid waters, Green added.
“They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,” Green said.
“There’s no indication they had any control over the craft. No pilot could have prevented that accident once they lost the lifts. It’s like a rock falling to the ground. It’s heartbreaking.”
Another thing investigators will hone in on as part of the probe is the pilot’s records and flying time, sources said.
“One thing the NTSB is going to look at is not only flight hours, but flight hours in New York City… Tourism is a popular place for newer pilots to gain hours quickly,” the source speculated.
“All these things will be looked at.”
Authorities have not yet released the pilot’s name.
The pilot’s body was among the six pulled from the Hudson late Thursday in the wake of the tragedy.
Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal and their three young children were also killed in the wreck.
The family of five had just arrived in the Big Apple from Barcelona earlier in the day and immediately set off on the sightseeing flight, according to law enforcement sources.
The doomed chopper, meanwhile, was owned and operated by New York Helicopter — a tour company that touts itself for providing comfort and safety to customers.
Tragic photos posted on the helicopter company’s website — New York Helicopter Tours — showed the couple and their children smiling as they boarded just before the flight took off.
The flight departed a downtown heliport at about 3 p.m. and lasted fewer than 18 minutes, radar data shows.
Video of the crash showed parts of the aircraft tumbling through the air and crashing into the water as it headed south along the Manhattan skyline.
The main rotor was still spinning without the helicopter as it fell, one harrowing clip shows.
“It’s devastation,” New York Helicopter Tours CEO Michael Roth said. “I’m a father and a grandfather and to have children on there, I’m devastated. I’m absolutely devastated.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter.
“And I haven’t seen anything like that in my 30 years being in business, in the helicopter 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.”
