Sunday, August 9, 2009
Five Italians Killed in "Tragedy on the Hudson" as Piper Plane Hits Tour Helicopter on Hudson River in NY
 

Following the "Miracle on the Hudson" (Sully Sullenberger) , we now have the "Tragedy on the Hudson"

A Helicopter carrying Five Italian tourists, Tiziana Pedrone, Fabio Gallazzi, Giacomo Gallazzi, Michele Norelli and Filippo Norelli was slammed into the back by a single-engine Piper plane, with 3 Americans, and is blamed for the Tragedy. In total nine lost their lives, none survived.

The Five Italian Tourists were part of a larger group of 12 Italian Tourists that hailed from two different parts of Italy: some from Bologna, while others were originally from Benevento. a town not far from Naples.

After New York City, the Italian tourists had planned to spend time in Florida before heading to Cancun. The survivors have now changed those plans and intend to return to Italy.

Deadly End for Groups on 2 Trips of Leisure 
New York Times; By Serge F. Kovaleski and and Michael M. Grynbaum; August 9, 2009

At 11:50 a.m. Saturday, Steven M. Altman set off from Teterboro Airport in northern New Jersey at the controls of a single-engine Piper airplane for what should have been a routine, short flight to the Jersey Shore. Nearby sat Daniel Altman, his brother and partner in the family’s real estate business, and a teenage boy.

The three had been in the air for only about six minutes when, according to the authorities, Mr. Altman’s Piper slammed into the back of a helicopter that had just taken off from a heliport on the Hudson River, carrying a pilot and five Italian tourists eager to see New York City from the sky.

No one survived the crash. 

The helicopter passengers were part of a larger group of about a dozen Italians " a collection of family and friends who lived in the Bologna area " visiting New York City as part of a vacation that was to wrap up on the beaches of Mexico, according to an Italian official and a person familiar with their plans.

On Saturday, all the Italian tourists showed up at the West 30th Street heliport, but only five would take to the air over the Hudson River while the rest waited on the ground. According to a spokesman for the Italian Embassy in Washington, the five who lost their lives in the crash were Tiziana Pedrone, Fabio Gallazzi, Giacomo Gallazzi, Michele Norelli and Filippo Norelli. Two of them were youths and the rest adults, the spokesman, Fabrizio Bucci, said.

The helicopter pilot was Jeremy Clark of Lanoka Harbor, N.J., according to Liberty Helicopters, the tour operator.

All told, nine people died after the two aircraft collided.

Steven Altman lived with his wife, Pamala, in Ambler, Pa., a suburb about 20 miles north of Philadelphia....and was a Cornell graduate ..was the principal of Altman Management Company, a real estate investment firm, that owns and manages residential properties. Daniel, his brother, was a vice president.... 

As for the Italian victims, Mr. Bucci said that, according to their passports, they hailed from two different parts of Italy: Some were born in the northeastern part of the country around Bologna, while others were originally from a town not far from Naples called Benevento. 

After New York City, the Italian tourists had planned to spend time in Florida before heading to Cancun. The survivors have now changed those plans and intend to return to Italy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/nyregion/09victims.html?_r=1
 

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