Tour Company Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing at Bayonne Port Terminal; Pilot and CO-Pilot Get Out Safely

A mayday and an engine out: that is what the pilot told air traffic controllers just before 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to audio of the call. Minutes later, a tour company's helicopter was sitting upright on a road at the Port Jersey Marine Terminal in Bayonne with a damaged tail rotor, and the two people aboard were out on their own.

The Bayonne Fire Department was called at about 8:53 a.m. on Nov. 10 and found the Bell 206L-4 resting near the end of the terminal, Fire Chief Frank Pawlowski said. The helicopter is operated by the tour company FlyNYON, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Only the pilot and co-pilot were aboard, and they got out before emergency crews arrived and were checked by EMS at the scene, the fire chief said. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it came down just outside the Port Liberty container terminal and that no one was hurt.

What went wrong is not settled yet. The FAA said the pilot reported a possible engine issue, while Pawlowski said preliminary information points to a mechanical malfunction that damaged the tail rotor and forced the emergency landing. The scare also revives a long-running fight over helicopter traffic around the Hudson. Rep. Rob Menendez, who has sponsored legislation to curb non-essential helicopter flights, said, "No community should be exposed to this risk, especially for non-essential flights that serve no public purpose."

Officials said there are no suspicions of criminal activity. The Port Authority Police Department is handling the investigation with help from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board, according to the fire department.

No cause has been released, and investigators have not said when they will share findings. Menendez said he is pushing the FAA and Congress for "full accountability."

Source: Bayonne Fire Department, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Federal Aviation Administration. Originally reported by NY Post and Hudson County View.

Photo: Jim.henderson / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication). File photo of Route 440 at Port Terminal Boulevard in Bayonne, 2010.