Two more bodies were pulled from the Hudson River today and divers searched for the other four victims of a collision between a small plane and a helicopter that killed nine people, including five Italian tourists.
National Transportation Safety Board officials said it was too soon to speculate on what caused Saturday's accident on a clear day over the Hudson River off Manhattan. They said that recovery of victims was now the top priority.
Authorities said there was no hope of finding survivors among the five Italian tourists and a pilot aboard the helicopter and the three people on the plane, which had taken off from nearby Teterboro airport in New Jersey.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the crash was "not survivable". Photographs by witnesses showed the two aircraft missing parts and nosediving toward the water.
Italian media said the five tourists were from Italy's Bologna area and included Fabio Gallazzi, his wife Tiziana Pedrone and their teen-aged son, Giacomo Gallazzi. Also killed were Michele Norelli and his son teen-aged son Filippo as well as Jeremy Clark, a New Jersey resident who was piloting the helicopter operated by Liberty Helicopter.
Mr Bloomberg said he had expressed condolences to the Italian ambassador.
The crash occurred not far from the spot where a a US Airways jet with more than 150 people on board splashed down in the frigid Hudson River after apparently hitting a flock of geese. All aboard survived.
Witnesses said the plane in Saturday's accident, a Piper Saratoga operated by Pennsylvania resident Steven Altman, who was killed along with his brother and nephew, appeared to be banking sharply before clipping the helicopter from the side or back.
The plane's wing came off as did the helicopter's rotors before both plunged into the river.
Chunks of debris also fell on the New Jersey side of the river in Hoboken, narrowly missing motorists.
The search for victims and wreckage was hampered by strong currents and low visibility.
"We still have not found the airplane," Mr Bloomberg told reporters.
NTSB officials said they did not expect to find recording equipment in the wreckage because small aircraft are not required to carry it. They said investigators expected to be able to determine the cause of the crash by interviewing air traffic controllers and reviewing air traffic control and radar data as well as photographs and other evidence.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association reports there have been 70 midair collisions involving 140 aircraft in the United States in the past 10 years. There were fatalities aboard 83 of those aircraft.
Reuters