Updated Saturday, August 8th 2009, 1:22 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/08/08/2009-08-08_helicopter_crash_near_new_jersey_.html#ixzz0NcUdXCLN
Coast guard vessels comb the Hudson River after a helicopter and small plane collided, then crashed near Hoboken Saturday.
A midair collision sent a small plane and a tourist helicopter spiraling into the Hudson River on Saturday, killing at least one person as witnesses watched in disbelief.
The victim's body was found in the water off 14th St. following the crash on a clear, sunny afternoon, police sources said.
Coast Guard ships, police divers and helicopters joined in the desperate hunt for survivors from the two downed aircraft.
There were five passengers and a pilot on the tour helicopter, operated by Liberty Helicopters, sources said. It was unclear how many people were aboard the Piper PA-32 plane.
"I heard a noise, looked up, and seen a small plane and a helicopter just going down," recounted eyewitness Richard Martyn, who watched the crash from a West Side bike path.
"It was like a muffled boom," he said. "I'm still shaking."
The single-engine plane was registered to a Pennsylvania company and departed from Teterboro Airport, a police source said.
The tower at Newark Airport reporting losing contact with the plane at noon over the Hudson, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Salac.
Witnesses said the plane's left wing clipped the chopper's rotor, sending both aircraft plunging into the Hudson.
Eyewitness Scott Reynolds, 42, said the helicopter seemed to explode after the collision above the New Jersey side of the river.
"There was a white puff," said the Florida tourist. "It looked like the rotors just exploded, like something hit him."
Vern Brownell, a private pilot from Hoboken, N.J., said there was a huge bang - "like a cannon" - before the helicopter and the plane dropped like stones into the river.
"I looked over and saw two aircrafts falling from the sky," he said.
The single-engine plane "lost its wing" in the crash, he said, before spiraling into the water.
Rescue ships responded quickly to the crash site, where rescue efforts were hampered by spilled fuel oil that turned the river even murkier.
The chopper's propeller separated from its body as the helicopter plunged into the water, according to one witness.
"I just looked up, and I saw parts of the propeller in the air," said eyewitness Alanna Duffy, 29. "They were mangled."
Ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles sped to the scene just south of 14th St. near Pier 54.
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