Related
Internal Links
Video
- CBC's Christine Birak interviews Paul Dudley, director of Linden Airport in New Jersey (Runs: 5:02)
- Play: Real Media »
- Play: QuickTime »
Police divers have recovered seven bodies from the mid-air helicopter and plane collision over the Hudson River in New York that killed nine people Saturday.
Emergency personnel transport a body Sunday on the Hudson River. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press)
Earlier Sunday, New York City and New Jersey divers recovered a single body and a piece of fuselage after finding three bodies on the day of the accident, police said.
National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Debbie Hersman said at a news conference later Sunday that two more bodies had been recovered.
All nine people aboard both aircraft — three in the private plane and six in the helicopter — are presumed dead.
Two law enforcement officials identified the plane's pilot as Steven Altman, 60, of Ambler, Pa., Also in the plane were the pilot's brother, Daniel Altman, 49, of Dresher, Pa., and Daniel's 16-year-old son, Douglas.
The five tourists on the helicopter were from the Bologna, Italy, area. Italian media identified them as Fabio Gallazzi, 49, his wife Tiziana Pedrone, and their son, Giacomo Gallazzi, 16, together with Michele Norelli, 52, and his son, Filippo Norelli, 17.
The helicopter pilot has been identified as Jeremy Clark of Lanoka Harbor, N.J.
Anniversary celebration turns to disaster
Michele Norelli and his wife, Silvia Rigamonti, were in New York for a weeklong vacation to celebrate 25 years of marriage. Their other son, Davide Norelli, stayed behind in Italy. He told the New York Times his mother decided not to take the helicopter ride because "she was afraid."
"The trip was a gift from one of Norelli's sisters to mark the 25th anniversary of his marriage," Giovanni Leporati, a friend of the family, told The Associated Press on Sunday.
"The anniversary already happened but they took advantage of the August holidays and went," he said.
Two other Italian tourists, a 42-year-old woman from Rome and her 13-year-old son, had planned to take part in the same helicopter ride but arrived last and missed the flight.
Officials said the plane's right wing clipped the back of the helicopter as the two aircraft were flying in the same direction. Both aircraft split apart and fell into the river about 100 metres from the shore of Hoboken, N.J.
The Piper Saratoga aircraft had just taken off from nearby Teterboro, N.J., airport and was heading south over the river to Ocean City, N.J. The helicopter, operated by Liberty Helicopter Tours, had just taken off from a heliport in Manhattan.
Divers have been troubled by low visibility in their search for victims.
With files from The Associated PressShare Tools
Top News Headlines
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- The husband of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest on Saturday says his family is not seeking government help to cover the cost of bringing his wife's body home. more »
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- The federal government is scrapping two review boards used by people appealing decisions made about their employment insurance. more »
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Raw stories about bullying emerged when a video booth was set up inside a Quebec high school. more »
- Serial carjacker gets life term for fatal crash
- An Ontario judge was moved to tears while delivering a life prison sentence to a serial carjacker who killed a woman and injured five others after driving a stolen van into her car during a 2010 police chase. more »
Latest World News Headlines
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- The husband of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest on Saturday says his family is not seeking government help to cover the cost of bringing his wife's body home. more »
- Canadian restrained on flight to Miami arrested
- A 24-year-old Canadian man is in federal custody for rushing toward the front of an American Airlines flight from Jamaica after the plane landed in Miami. more »
- Suspect in Etan Patz death charged with murder
- A New Jersey man accused of luring six-year-old Etan Patz into a New York City convenience store in 1979 and killing him has been charged with second-degree murder. more »
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest

- The difficulty, danger and expense of removing the bodies of climbers who died in Mount Everest's "death zone" mean most of the dead remain on the mountain as a stark reminder to other climbers of the risks. more »
Dispatches »
- Foreign slaves serving the U.S. military machine May. 24, 2012 3:33 PM How does a hairdresser recruited for work in Dubai, wind up slaving for the U.S. military in a war zone in Iraq? There are tens of thousands serving in what's come to be known as America's "Invisible Army."
Connect Newsroom Blog
Etan Patz Arrest, Helene Campbell & Facebook Flop May. 24, 2012 8:54 PM Three decades after a U.S. child Etan Patz disappeared, an arrest has finally been made.
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- Everest victim’s husband says family not seeking government help
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- Brave cat makes epic leap of faith
- Double-lung recipient dances on Ellen show
- What a Greek euro exit could mean for Canada

