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Passenger’s Bag Possible Cause of Deadly East River Helicopter Crash

By Greg Norman, Fox News

A passenger’s bag may have accidentally hit the fuel shutoff button of the doomed helicopter that plunged into New York’s East River Sunday, killing all aboard except the pilot, who issued a frantic distress call before climbing aboard a raft and paddling to safety.

“Mayday, mayday, mayday,” Richard Vance, the 33-year-old pilot, called out over his radio seconds before going down in a crash that left all five of his passengers dead. “East River engine failure!”

The passengers were on a tour operated by New Jersey-based Liberty Helicopters and investigators were looking Monday at the possibility that one of their bags interfered with the helicopter.

The cause of the crash is not yet known but it is reportedly the third in the past 11 years involving the company.

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