Tourist Helicopter in Fatal New York Crash Lacked Flight Recorders: NTSB

The NTSB also said that ‘no onboard video recorders or camera recorders have been recovered.’

A National Transportation Safety Board team surveys the wreckage recovered from the Bell 206 L-4 helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River near Jersey City, N.J., on April 10, 2025. Courtesy of the NTSB

While divers continue to use “side-scanning sonar” to search the waters of the Hudson River for wreckage from the tourist helicopter crash last week that killed six people, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on April 12 that the aircraft was not equipped with flight recorders.

“The helicopter was not equipped with any flight recorders. No onboard video recorders or camera recorders have been recovered, and none of the helicopter avionics onboard recorded information that could be used for the investigation,” the NTSB wrote in an April 12 investigation update.