Updated 08/11/2009 11:12 PM
Divers Extract Plane Section, Final Victims From Hudson
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Authorities say two bodies were found Tuesday afternoon when New York Police Department divers and the Army Corps of Engineers extracted a crumpled portion of the plane involved in Saturday's deadly midair collision over the Hudson River.
The section of the single-engine Lance Piper, which was pulled out using long straps off the coast of New Jersey, was transported by boat to Pier 40 hear Houston Street in Manhattan.
Police divers located the wreckage Monday, and located the two remaining missing victims inside the plane.
Divers say the plane's wings are still not visible.
While searching Tuesday afternoon for ways to remove the plane, an NYPD robotic device found an 18-inch portion of the Liberty Tours helicopter that collided with the plane, about 100 feet away from where the recovery team initially found it.
Nine people were killed Saturday, when a private plane carrying a Pennsylvania man, his brother and 16-year-old nephew collided with a sightseeing helicopter carrying five Italian tourists and a pilot.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the wreckage will be key to determining what led to the crash.
"We're looking for any evidence of any impact, any witness marks, damage to the aircraft that might be consistent with the collision, so we can determine what the impact point is," said NTSB Chairwoman Debbie Hersman. "The investigators are going to be looking to see if everything was working, if there was power coming from the engine at the time. We are conducting a very thorough investigation. We're going to be looking at everything and documenting everything."
Meanwhile, a private prayer service for the five Italian victims will be held Wednesday morning at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home on Madison Avenue. The Associated Press reports that the victims were two families from the vicinity of Bologna in northern Italy.
Authorities on Monday released some of the 911 calls that poured in from people who witnessed the collision.
Caller: In Hoboken, New Jersey. . . In the Hudson River. . . A helicopter just landed in it, on the corner of 4th and River Street.
911 Operator: It's 4th and River Street? Stay on the line. . . Do you see anyone injured?
Caller: Oh my God. They're probably, totally injured.
911 Operator: It landed or it crashed?
Caller: It's gone, it's crashed.
911 Operator: Ok, stay on the line. I'm going to transfer you to EMS and the police.
Caller: An airplane hit a helicopter in the Hudson river here. The location is River Road and 4th, approximately.
911 Operator: So River Road and 4th Street?
Caller: An airplane just hit a helicopter. The helicopter went down into the water. The plane, I'm not too sure what happened, where it is. I can't see it.
Air Traffic Control transcripts released Monday indicate a normal exchange between the plane's pilot and controllers in Teterboro.
Pilot Steven Altman was given the choice to fly down the river or head southwest, and he told the controller he planned to fly down the river.
Witnesses say they saw the plane come up from behind and clip the helicopter.