Bird remains found on the wreckage of a sightseeing helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River last year in New York City and killed 6 people suggest that it struck several geese, investigators said Thursday.
The National Transportation Safety Board reports released Thursday describe the evidence and witness reports that support there having been a bird strike before the helicopter plummeted into the river on April 10, 2025. The reports were not final, so don't identify a definitive cause of the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration has said that helicopters are especially vulnerable to bird strikes because they fly at low altitudes. Helicopter bird strikes are unusual, but they can be devastating.
The victims of last year’s accident included a Siemens business executive from Spain, his family and the pilot. Passengers Agustin Escobar, 49; his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their three children, Victor, 4; Mercedes, 8; and Agustin, 10, all died. The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who received his commercial pilot’s license in 2023. The crash renewed safety concerns about the popular sightseeing flights and prompted New Jersey’s governor to ask for additional restrictions on nonessential helicopter flights.
Remains of several geese were found on the helicopter’s rotors and left horizontal stabilizer. One witness told the NTSB that just minutes before the crash a large flock of geese took flight in the area.
“The geese were big and there were many of them. When the helicopter went bang, I immediately thought it was a bird strike,” the witness told NTSB investigators.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Feather Identification Lab identified remains from different breeds of geese on the wreckage. Some of those birds average about three pounds. The remains also include female Canada Geese, which can average nearly eight pounds.
The NTSB has investigated 24 helicopter bird strike crashes in the past 25 years, including three fatal ones. Helicopter pilots are encouraged to try to avoid areas where birds are known to be present and fly slower to minimize the potential damage from an impact.
“Bird strikes continue to be a hazard in aviation and one that can be difficult to mitigate,” said aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for both the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration.
The “ miracle on the Hudson” highlighted the danger of bird strikes when a US Airways jet hit a flock of birds and lost power in both engines shortly after takeoff in 2009. Pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was hailed as a hero after he landed the powerless plane in the Hudson River and all 155 people on board were rescued.
In last year’s crash, witnesses described seeing the helicopter’s tail and main rotor breaking away and smoke pouring from the spinning chopper before it slammed into the water.
The helicopter took off from a downtown heliport that afternoon and flew north along the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, parts of the aircraft were seen tumbling into the water.
Rescue boats circled the submerged aircraft within minutes of impact and recovered the bodies from the water. Later recovery crews hoisted the mangled Bell 206L-4 helicopter out of the river for investigators to examine.
New York Helicopter Tours shut down after the crash, and the FAA issued an emergency order to ground all the company’s flights after learning it had fired its operations director minutes after he had agreed to suspend flights during the investigation.
The FAA said at the time that it suspected the firing was retaliation for a safety decision.
The company’s director of operations, Jason Costello, agreed to voluntarily halt flights while the crash was being investigated. But 16 minutes after Costello sent an email to the FAA, the company’s chief executive officer sent a separate email to the agency saying he did not authorize the halt and that Costello was no longer an employee.
FILE - In this image released by the National Transportation Safety Board, an NTSB team surveys the wreckage Recovered from the helicopter that crashed into Hudson River, April 11, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (NTSB via AP, File)
FILE - Emergency personnel respond to a helicopter crash on the Hudson River, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
President Donald Trump is set to address the nation Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on topics he said will include elections and voting machines, suggesting he could revisit long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech comes as he’s escalated his calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules ahead of November’s midterm elections.
At Trump’s last primetime presidential address in April, he said the U.S. would accomplish its Iran war objectives “very shortly.” But days of back-and-forth attacks by the U.S. and Iran across the Middle East and in the Strait of Hormuz have shredded the interim deal to pause the fighting. U.S. strikes intensified early Thursday against a widening set of targets, including a ship it accused of breaking its blockade on Iranian ports. Iran retaliated by firing on U.S. allies in the region.
Here's the latest:
The U.S. military has begun a sixth day of strikes on Iran, a statement from U.S. Central Command announced Thursday.
The statement offered few details about what the military was targeting beyond the new wave being an effort to “further degrade Iranian military capabilities.”
However, U.S. strikes have been intensifying in recent days as the military has taken to hitting targets away from Iran’s coastal regions, including areas around Iran’s capital, Tehran, for the first time in this latest round of violence. American forces also fired into a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic.
Iranian officials said Wednesday that U.S. strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded more than 300 others.
“Vehicle stops are continuing. Verbal guidance has been given to all field offices across the country by the Department of Homeland Security,” Leavitt said.
She added that such stops “are a necessary tool that ICE agents need in order” to continue what she calls “their deportation campaign of the worst of the worst.”
Trump posted on his social media site on Wednesday that ICE agents should keep pulling over vehicles – just a day after officials said they’d be suspending most such stops.
ICE’s enforcement tactics are coming under renewed criticism after three people died during encounters with federal officers within a week.
Under persistent questioning about the remarks set for 9 p.m. EDT, Leavitt said there’ve been discussions about Trump addressing a range of topics beyond the 2020 election, “and that could very well be possible tonight.”
“Again, this is all more reason for all of you to carry the speech live, and for the American people to tune in tonight so they can hear directly from the American president and draw their own conclusions,” she said.
It remains unclear how television networks will handle the speech.
Leavitt declined to answer when asked if Trump’s upcoming speech on “election integrity” meant the president might not be willing to accept the results of November’s midterms.
But Vance was far more definitive.
Asked by reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday about November, Vance said, “Of course we’re gonna support the results of the midterm elections.”
“We think we’re going to win. But ultimately that’s up to the American people,” the vice president said then. “But we also think we have to do everything that we can to discourage cheating.”
Trump and Vance have jointly pushed for approval of the Save Act, which is stalled in Congress. Even if it were to pass, however, the proposal wouldn’t affect the midterms.
The press secretary was asked about Trump saying the U.S. couldn’t negotiate with Iran because they lie, even as Vice President JD Vance has expressed frustration about being criticized by hawkish elements while he’s sought to negotiate with Iran.
Leavitt said that was no contradiction, adding, “I can tell you the president and vice president are on the exact same page about where we are right now in this conflict.”
Pressed separately on Trump continuing to insist that the U.S. military wasn’t responsible for striking an Iranian girl’s school at the start of the war, Leavitt said, “That’s the president’s opinion” only, suggesting what he said wasn’t a fact.
She also said that, at the Defense Department, “the investigation continues” into the incident.
Asked about a surge in infections from the diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora, Leavitt said the administration is “closely monitoring the situation” and tracing the outbreak’s source.
States are reporting record numbers of cases of infections, and health officials have not yet definitively identified what’s causing the spike.
It comes after the administration made significant cuts to food safety programs at the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year. Asked if those cuts have slowed the government’s response, Leavitt said no.
“We’ve talked to the CDC and FDA specifically about that, and not at all,” she said. “They have the resources they need to make sure that Americans are fully informed and protected from this illness during this time.”
Asked about reports that a teleprompter operator for Trump is accused of placing online bets using inside knowledge from his job, Leavitt said the employee has been put on unpaid leave.
“I’m aware of the report; the president is too. I spoke with him about it. He believes it’s deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace,” Leavitt said Thursday.
Leavitt said she does not know of other White House employees accused of similar allegations, adding that the White House has “extremely strict, ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this.”
Reports from ABC News and other outlets say Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to the president, is in talks with federal regulators to settle allegations that he used inside knowledge from Trump’s speeches to win more than $100,000 on the predictions market Kalshi.
Asked if Trump will be cheering for Argentina given the hard feelings he has toward Spain, Karoline Leavitt answered a reporter’s question with, “It’s a really good question.”
“And I’m disappointed in myself for not asking the president before I came out here, knowing you would probably ask,” she said at her briefing Thursday. “I haven’t talked to him about it. But we’ll get you an answer on that. You’re welcome to ask him yourself at some point before the game. I’m sure you’ll see him, and I’m sure he’ll have a fun answer for you on it.”
She kicked off the briefing with a scheduling update, highlighting Trump’s national address planned for Thursday evening.
“President Trump will deliver a major address to the nation on protecting the integrity of our elections. And we encourage every American to tune in,” Leavitt said.
She added that Trump will head to New York City on Friday for a FIFA reception at Trump Tower ahead of his appearance at the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina on Sunday.
The White House planned to use TV screens ahead of the daily briefing, but technical issues got in the way, and the screens were removed before White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt came to the lectern.
An aide was working on a laptop to get the screens going before the briefing began and looked relatively stressed as the start of the briefing was delayed. Eventually, four aides — two of them on cellphones — tried to resolve the situation without success.
Eventually, the screens were removed from behind the lectern, and Leavitt appeared for her first briefing since giving birth and going on parental leave.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is back at the briefing room podium on Thursday, the first time since she went on maternity leave earlier this year.
Leavitt last held a briefing on April 24 before taking leave and giving birth to a daughter on May 1. She returned to work at the White House in late June.
While she was away, the White House leaned on a rotating cast of cabinet members to fill in, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Leavitt’s return comes ahead of a national address Trump is scheduled to deliver Thursday evening. The president has said he will discuss topics including elections and voting machines.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said, “None of the things that Trump has said — or may say later on today — with respect to election interference have any merit.”
Ahead of Thursday’s speech, Jeffries was asked whether China may have interfered in U.S. elections. The Democratic leader said he drew from the work of the House Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, whose op-ed published Thursday in The New York Times restated the findings of U.S. intelligence after recent elections.
Himes wrote that U.S. intelligence said that there are “no indications that any foreign actor attempted to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections by altering any technical aspect of the voting process.” Himes warned that Trump may try to cherry-pick unverified information and present it as explosive new theories of election wrongdoing.
Jeffries said Trump is “the one fanning the flames of conspiracy theories.”
President Donald Trump’s administration is reviving a rule that could deny green cards to immigrants who use public benefits, including food stamps, Medicaid, housing vouchers and others.
The policy, known as “public charge,” appeared in the Federal Register on Thursday and will be formally published on July 20.
The policy was first implemented in February 2020 as one of Trump’s moves to limit legal immigration during his first administration. But it was reversed after Democratic President Joe Biden took office.
Its return comes when the Republican administration is implementing a hardline policy to curb both illegal and legal immigration, and when the cost of healthcare and food is rising.
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Messages to ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MS NOW asking about coverage plans weren’t returned.
Democrats warned that Trump was trying to revive false claims of past stolen elections in order to delegitimize the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, in which Trump’s Republican Party is facing headwinds.
They are the Juárez Cartel, on the border with Texas, and Los Viagras, a criminal group from the western state of Michoacán. The Federal Register, the U.S. government’s gazette, published the designation Thursday.
They joined six other Mexican criminal organizations the U.S. considers terrorist groups, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Gangs in other Latin American countries, including Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador and El Salvador, also have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration.
President Trump began to extend the terrorist label to Latin American cartels in February 2025 to allow U.S. authorities to take more aggressive action against them or against anyone the U.S. sees as aiding the groups.
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio convened more than 60 governments to address what he described a growing increase of left wing violence around the globe. Rubio opened the conference by making sweeping statements about the issue and noting that the U.S. and most of the world has spent the last few decades focusing on Islamic terrorism.
“For far too long, however, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot, a blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left,” he said.
Rubio added that the U.S. plans to make more terrorist designations against groups like antifa.
Two of the eight men indicted on murder and terrorism conspiracy charges for their alleged roles in a thwarted drone and sniper attack on the UFC cage-fighting show at the White House last month pleaded not guilty Thursday.
Tycen Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio, and Chandler Scaggs, 21, of Chapmanville, West Virginia, entered the pleas before U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. in Columbus, Ohio. Each is charged, as are the six others, with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official.
Sargus set their trial date for Sept. 14.
A message seeking comment was left with Proper’s attorney. Scaggs’ lawyer declined to comment.
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When Markwayne Mullin took over as Homeland Security secretary from fired Kristi Noem, he pledged to get the department responsible for carrying out the Trump administration’s mass deportations policy out of the headlines.
But just months into Mullin’s time in office, the department is squarely in the center of controversy again after three people were killed in encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the span of less than a week.
The events are the first major test for Mullin, who promised a steady hand for a department roiled by his predecessor’s conduct and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
As he navigates the uptick in violence, he’s being forced into a balancing act that has him juggling pressures from a White House eager to carry out mass deportations and his former colleagues in Congress seeking answers — all while attempting to ease tensions in American cities over the deaths.
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In the weeks after Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020, the people Trump appointed to run the Department of Justice, cybersecurity agencies and intelligence departments all said the same thing — the election was fair, legitimate and free of major fraud or foreign interference.
In his second term, Trump has tried to use the levers of power to rewrite that well-settled history, something he’s expected to try again Thursday night with an address to the nation.
He’s already appointed loyalists who’ve echoed his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and made clear he expects everyone to follow his lead.
In an indication of how fealty to Trump’s lies has become a litmus test for his administration, many of his nominees have steadfastly refused to directly answer the question of who won in 2020, preferring to tersely note that Biden became president.
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When major disasters strike, Americans are routinely waiting weeks — or even months — to receive presidential approval for aid. And if they live in a state that didn’t support President Trump, chances are greater that aid will be denied.
Since taking office last year, Trump has approved about 65 requests for major disaster declarations and denied more than two dozen others from states, tribes or territories seeking federal financial assistance following hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, floods and fires.
Trump has taken longer on average to approve disaster requests than any other president, according to an Associated Press analysis of data dating back to 1989, when a federal law setting new parameters for disaster determinations was implemented. And no other president has such a disparity in denials between states that supported him politically and those that did not.
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President Donald Trump is set to address the nation Thursday night on topics he said will include elections and voting machines, suggesting he’s likely to revisit some of the unproven claims he’s previously made about Republican losses, particularly his own in 2020.
Trump’s fixation on his loss to Democrat Joe Biden six years ago and the long-debunked theories he’s circulated about it are something he still brings up regularly when discussing other subjects. But elevating the deeply political and conspiratorial topics to a presidential primetime address underscores the lengths to which Trump has used his second term to both blow past norms and fixate on old grievances.
Trump has offered only vague details about the address, scheduled for 9 p.m. When asked by a reporter Tuesday if it would concern “election machines and integrity,” Trump said it would “concern that subject” and “we’ll have a couple of other things to say also.”
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President Donald Trump arrives at the United States Army War College for the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Carlisle, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump departs on Marine One after speaking at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
