Divers recover fifth body after NY helicopter crash

DIVERS recovered a piece of a submerged helicopter and a fifth body yesterday as investigators searched the Hudson River for wreckage from the helicopter and a small plane that collided in midair, killing nine people.

Investigators also were searching for pictures and video of Saturday’s accident, which was seen by thousands of people enjoying a beautiful summer’s day.

Nine people – three members of a Pennsylvania family in the private plane, five Italian tourists and a pilot from New Jersey in the Liberty Tours helicopter – died in Saturday’s collision, the city’s worst air disaster since a 2001 commercial jet crash in Queens that killed 265 people. One of the Italian victims was a husband celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary, a family friend said. His wife had stayed behind, but their 16-year-old son was also in the helicopter.