The National Transportation Safety Board released a transcript Monday of video footage from a New York helicopter that crashed in the East River in March 2018. The crash killed five people, including two from Dallas — one of whom was a former WFAA intern and son of a longtime WFAA employee.
The NTSB released a transcript of the footage, but did not release the footage itself.
The Liberty helicopter was taking passengers on a doors-off photography helicopter flight before it lost engine power and crashed into the East River, rolling over. The pilot was injured but managed to get himself out. The five passengers were trapped by their harnesses and unable to save themselves.
The five passengers were identified as Dallas firefighter Brian McDaniel, 26; journalist and former WFAA intern Trevor Cadigan, 26; Carla Vallejos Blanco, 29; Daniel Thompson, 34; and Tristan Hill, 29.
According to the March 2018 preliminary report by the NTSB, the pilot told investigators that he performed his preflight inspection and made sure his helicopter was fueled when he arrived at work the morning of March 11. He then piloted multiple 15 to 30-minute flights, but couldn't remember exactly how many.
The accident flight was scheduled for about 7 p.m., the report states. The pilot told investigators that at about 6:45, he "checked his passengers' harnesses and put their life vests on. He pointed out where the cutting tool was located on their harness and explained how to use it. He then seated the passengers and secured their harness tethers to hard points on the helicopter. After the passengers were seated, loading personnel assisted them with putting on the helicopter's restraints."
The report reveals that the pilot then gave the passengers a safety briefing and told which passengers would remove their restraints and which would remain buckled during the flight. He then asked the passengers to put on their headsets and finished his safety briefing, the report states, before again explaining "how to use the cutting tool to cut the seatbelts."
The transcript released Monday describes the crash in harrowing detail, with one passenger reaching for a spot on his chest for a hook knife.
The NTSB also released dozens of other documents from its investigation into the crash and set a Dec. 10 deadline for a hearing in Washington to determine a probable cause.
Shortly following the crash, the family of Trevor Cadigan, who grew up in Dallas and graduated from SMU, filed a lawsuit against Liberty Helicopters, the pilot, and the tour operator NY on Air. Trevor's father Jerry Cadigan is production manager at WFAA.
The lawsuit claims they are "negligent in that their policy of so-called helicopter 'doors-off' photo flights is inordinately dangerous and risky and should only be permitted for professional photographers in special situations and not for amateur tourist photographers."
The lawsuit also targets the company policy of "providing a knife to each passengers to cut through their harness to extricate themselves is grossly negligent and reckless," and states that the restraint system used, "securing passengers to the helicopter with harnesses attached from the back by a metal ring known as a carabiner which is a death trap and does not permit them to reach and activate release mechanism on their own."
