Washington (CNN) — A sightseeing helicopter that plunged into the Hudson River near New York City last year, killing a family of five and the pilot, crashed after hitting a flock of geese, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a series of investigative reports released on Thursday.
The Bell 206L-4, operated by New York Helicopters, took off from lower Manhattan on April 11, 2025, circling the Statue of Liberty, before flying north along the Hudson River. After turning back south, the aircraft was near the New Jersey shoreline when it broke apart in the air, flipping and spiraling into the water.
A “mixed-species flock of Brant and Canada Geese impacted the rotor blades” and the rear of the aircraft, the Smithsonian Institution’s feather identification lab determined. A “Great Blackbacked Gull was hit by flying debris from the tail section at force enough to mangle the bird and cause the bird wing to separate and come to rest on the rooftop with other helicopter debris,” the lab found.
The Smithsonian, primarily known for its public museums in Washington, also assists investigators by identifying bird remains, called snarge, after aircraft collisions.
“Bird remains were identified using whole/fragmentary feather comparisons with preserved bird specimens, microscopic examinations of diagnostic characters, and DNA analyses,” according to a report by the feather lab and included in the docket.
The NTSB’s more than 2,000 pages of investigative materials do not state a probable cause of the crash. A determination is expected in the final report, which the NTSB told CNN is “likely” to come by the end of the year.
One witness in a nearby apartment complex said he saw the helicopter “fall like a brick” into the water, investigators wrote in a report. He remembered “hundreds of birds” flying in the area but could not recall how high they were flying.
Another witness was running along the Hudson when about 20 “very big, fat birds” took flight in front of her and headed toward the river. About two minutes later, she heard a “bang” overhead, but she did not notice any birds near the helicopter as it broke apart midair.
The victims in the crash included three children and their parents – who both worked for Siemens, a German multinational technology conglomerate. The pilot was also killed.
The helicopter’s last major inspection was on March 1, and it had completed seven tour flights earlier on the day of the accident, according to the NTSB.
Over 24,000 incidents of aircraft hitting animals were reported in the Federal Aviation Administration’s wildlife strike database last year. More than 1,000 of those were determined to have happened in New York or New Jersey.
The Hudson was also the site of one of the most famous crash landings caused by aircraft hitting birds, dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson.” Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger safely landed US Airways flight 1549 in the river in 2009 after Canadian Geese disabled both engines of his Airbus A320 moments after taking off from LaGuardia Airport.
The number of bird strikes reported has gone up in recent years due to increased wildlife populations, more flights, faster and quitter aircraft, and better reporting, the FAA said. Efforts to mitigate the risks include habitant management, detecting and predicting wildlife moments, and keeping the animals away.
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