By Murray Weiss, Mary Johnson and Nicole Bode
DNAinfo Staff
KIPS BAY — Investigators are looking at weight as a factor in the fatal helicopter crash that left one passenger dead and two others critically hurt after a failed takeoff attempt Tuesday, sources say.
Four passengers were aboard the private Bell 206-B helicopter which went down into the East River at 3:22 p.m. Tuesday after the pilot reported problems during the takeoff from the 34th street heliport, officials said.
Passenger Sonia Marra, 40, of Sydney, Australia, died inside the helicopter after she was unable to escape as it sank, officials said. Pilot Paul Dudley, 56, was able to get out, as was Marra's partner Helen Tamaki, 43, mother, Harriet Nicholson, 60, and stepfather Paul Nicholson, 72, according to reports.
Harriet Nicholson and Tamaki were taken to Bellevue Medical Center in critical condition, and Paul Nicholson was treated and released from NYU Langone Medical Center.
Sources said the size of the helicopter cabin is no bigger than a "VW [Volkswagen] bug," and that placing three adults in the back, in addition to the two in the front of the helicopter, would have been a tight fit.
NTSB investigator Mark Rosekind, said at a press conference Wednesday evening that weight was among the issues being considered by investigators.
"Clearly, weight imbalance will be an issue that will be investigated," Rosekind said. "The investigators are following up on that right now."
He said the maximum gross weight of the helicopter was 3,200 pounds, with a 76 gallon fuel tank.
A spokeswoman for Bell Helicopter said that specifications for a Bell 206 helicopter from 1976 were not readily available.
But an aviation site listed the specs for the Bell 206 B3 as weighing 3,200 pounds, with the ability to carry 690 pounds of passengers or cargo, along with 610 pounds of fuel.
With a full tank of fuel, that would allow for 138 pounds per passenger with five passengers aboard.
The NTSB spokesman said that Dudley reported 44 gallons of fuel in the tank when he took off from Linden, N.J.
Helicopter pilot Genevive Alexander, 32, who has been flying helicopters for close to a decade, said she usually shuttles significantly fewer passengers than the maximum seating allows, so weight is not typically an issue.
But Alexander, who flew into the 34th Street heliport Wednesday, said that scales are available to helicopter pilots at the majority of heliports, and that it's incumbent on the pilot to ask passengers their weight before boarding.
"It's up to the PIC [Pilot in Charge] to tell them to get on the scale. That's part of our job," she said, adding that she's always extremely vigilant about weight — something she said is embedded in pilots through extensive training.
"You have to respect the limitations [of the aircraft]. That's the most important thing."
She says that while she is rarely close to capacity, she asks people constantly how much they weigh - even if others may find it embarrassing.
"Every pound counts," she said.
She said that if the weight limit is getting close to capacity, pilots can adjust by offloading fuel.
Rosekind said Dudley "did report having a problem immediately after takeoff," but he would not discuss the nature of the problem.
Dudley spoke to investigators from the NTSB and the NYPD on Wednesday, and told them that he took off from Linden Municipal Airport at 2:55 p.m., and landed at the 34th Street heliport.
He picked up the four passengers, with Paul Nicholson sitting in the front seat, and the three women in the back, the NTSB said.
About 15 feet in the air, he made a 45 degree turn and realized he had a problem, the NTSB spokesman said. He opted not to turn left into the populated area, and landed in the water, where the helicopter flipped upside down after impact, Dudley told investigators.
Rosekind said there were "no obvious signs of a catastrophic mechanical failure," such as a hole in the engine.
Dudley told some of his colleagues after the crash that he was struggling to understand the cause of the crash.
"I don't know why, I just know it happened very, very fast," 1010 WINS reported Dudley as saying. "All I know is I was trying to get over to the heliport. I couldn't get close enough."
"I can just tell you that the cops jumped in the water, when I yelled I needed... help," Dudley told the station.
Dudley said that he swam underwater and helped rescue two of the passengers. He was trying to rescue Sonia Marra when emergency workers arrived, 1010WINS reported.
Rosekind said that the wreckage of the plane was taken to a secure hangar at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, where inspectors will analyze it. He added that the main rotor of the helicopter was broken when it was retrieved, but said it was too soon to tell whether it broke on impact or before.
"It's still very early. We have to look at the video, speak to the witnesses," Rosekind said. "The NTSB will not speculate."
Rosekind said a host of factors will be considered before announcing the cause of the crash, including the age of the helicopter — it was built in 1976 — the maintenance records, the pilot's history, witness testimony, and other details.
The helicopter had flown from Linden, N.J., to the 34th Street heliport earlier Tuesday, officials said.
Dudley is listed as the director of the Linden Municipal Airport, according to FAA records.
He told NTSB investigators that he had logged 1,500 hours of flight time in helicopters, 500 of them in the helicopter he was flying at the time of the crash, according to Rosekind.
