f from a downtown heliport that afternoon and flew north along the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, parts of the aircraft were seen tumbling into the water.

Rescue boats circled the submerged aircraft within minutes of impact and recovered the bodies from the water. Later recovery crews hoisted the mangled Bell 206L-4 helicopter out of the river for investigators to examine.

4 Scene of a helicopter crash into the Hudson River near Pier 40 on Thursday, April 10, 2025. Obtained by the NY Post

New York Helicopter Tours shut down after the crash, and the FAA issued an emergency order to ground all the company's flights after learning it had fired its operations director minutes after he had agreed to suspend flights during the investigation.

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The FAA said at the time that it suspected the firing was retaliation for a safety decision.

The company's director of operations, Jason Costello, agreed to voluntarily halt flights while the crash was being investigated.

But 16 minutes after Costello sent an email to the FAA, the company's chief executive officer sent a separate email to the agency saying he did not authorize the halt and that Costello was no longer an employee.