Divers and Engineers Plan to Lift Plane From River

Wreckage from the midair collision over the Hudson to be pulled from water.

ByABC News
August 11, 2009, 7:10 AM

Aug. 11, 2009 — -- Divers and engineers recovering the wreckage from Saturday's crash over the Hudson River hope to raise the remains of a small plane out of the water this afternoon.

The plane that collided with a tour helicopter in the crowded skies between Manhattan and New Jersey was found Monday, 60 feet underwater. Nine people died in the midair collision.

Searchers removed bodies of seven victims and the helicopter itself from the river Sunday, and divers now say they've found the body of an eighth person, an adult male, in the plane that remains underwater.

New York Police Department divers are working this morning to secure the plane with additional straps and chains so it can be lifted up.

NYPD divers and harbor officers met with the Army Corps of Engineers this morning to assess plans to pull the plane from the river this afternoon when river currents and visibility improve, NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said.

As the remnants of the accident are recovered, critics are calling for more restrictions for flights within the crowded Hudson River corridor.

In that area over the river, aircraft flying below 1,100 feet are virtually on their own, with no air traffic controllers guiding them in the crowded airspace. National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Deborah Hersman said it's the responsibility of pilots "to see and be seen and be aware of traffic around them."

It's also a busy space: The area saw 225 flights every day in the week prior to the accident, investigators said.

"It is unconscionable that the FAA permits unregulated flights in a crowded airspace in a major metropolitan area," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "And it is ridiculous that private planes and helicopters flying through a crowded area are dependent, while in flight, on visually sighting other aircraft and communicating with them. The real-life repercussions of these non-existent regulations have been disastrous."

Hersman also said the pilot of the Piper Lance plane, Steve Altman, made a last-minute decision to fly over the Hudson when asked for his planned route by air traffic control.

"ATC came back: 'Let me know so I know who to coordinate with,'" Hersman said. "And the pilot responded, 'OK, tell you what: I'll take down the river.'"

Investigators want to know if Altman was prepared for the congested and complicated airspace. They also believe that after the Piper left from Teterboro, N.J., airport, Altman may not have followed instructions to switch to the Newark airport frequency and check in with controllers there.