One individual said that the struck aircraft made what sounded like a “sonic boom,” and others claimed to have seen the helicopter “split in half” before it crashed down close to Pier 40.
“Oh my god.” Oh my god. Oh my god. A frightened onlooker who saw the helicopter plummet into the river said, “Oh my gosh.”
Witness Bruce Wall, who was close to Jersey City, New Jersey’s waterfront, reported seeing the helicopter “fall apart” in midair, with the main rotor and tail coming off.
As it dropped, the main rotor continued to spin without the aircraft. Dani Horbiak heard what sounded like “several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air”
When she was at her house in Jersey City. She watched the helicopter “splash in several pieces into the river” as she peered out the window. Lesly Camacho, a waitress at a restaurant by.
