The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate after a helicopter pilot reported a loss of engine power and made an emergency landing on a pier just outside New York City.
The Bell 206, operated by sightseeing helicopter company FlyNYON, took off from Kearny, New Jersey, and was over water heading toward Brooklyn when the pilot reported a problem.
“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. We have low RPMs, we have to land outside the airport,” they said over the radio in an audio recording recorded by ATC.com. “We have an engine failure… we are going to land at the Bayonne docks.”
The helicopter landed on a road just beyond the cargo containers, video from CNN affiliate WABC showed. The helicopter’s tail was torn off and hung from a nearby fence.
Two people were on board and conducting a maintenance flight, air traffic control audio indicates. Both were fine, according to radio calls.
FlyNYON did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
“At FlyNYON, your safety is our number one priority,” the company states on its website. “The NYON team combines more than three generations of aviation experience and more than 50,000 flight hours.”
Helicopters can use their blades to slow a descent even if they lose engine power, through a process called autorotation, but some accidents have proven fatal.
Last year, a tourist helicopter, operated by another company, plunged into the Hudson River, killing a family of five and the pilot. In that case, investigators determined the plane struck a flock of birds.
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