A Navy buddy of doomed helicopter pilot Seankese “Sean” Johnson mentioned he doubts the chopper crashed into the Hudson River Thursday just because it ran out of gasoline.
Remi Adeleke, 42, a 13-year Navy SEAL veteran, suspects a “maintenance issue” is on the root of the lethal crash, which claimed the lives of Johnson and a household of 5 from Spain.
“It was super sad what happened,” he added. “It was totally unexpected.”
New York Helicopter CEO Michael Roth advised The Telegraph that Johnson radioed earlier than plummeting into the water that he was low on gas and was heading again to the helipad.
Sean Johnson, the pilot of the helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River on Thursday. (Fb)
“He is smart enough not to be like ‘Oh, I’m passed E (empty), lets keep flying around,”” he mentioned. “Maintenance had to be the issue with this helicopter. I’ve flown on many helicopters in my career and a helicopter just doesn’t split apart like that in mid-air.”
“The fact the entire propeller blade detached from the helo and another part of the helo detached and went down, that’s a maintenance issue,” he added. “Something wasn’t locked down or screwed down.”
The NTSB remains to be investigating the reason for the crash. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy mentioned Friday the investigation would take a look at “reports of a large flock of birds in the area shortly before the crash.” On Saturday, the company reported that the Bell 2-6 L-4 helicopter was on its eighth flight of the day and had no flight recorders geared up.
Spanish vacationers Agustin Escobar, the CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, his spouse Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three younger youngsters all died within the crash, as did Johnson, after items of the helicopter, together with the rotor, appeared to interrupt off in mid-air.
Agustin Escobar, his spouse, Merce Camprubi Montal, with two of their three youngsters. (Fb)
Adeleke, a author and actor, met Johnson in 2014 when Johnson was working in Navy tactical help.
“He was like a little brother,” Adeleke mentioned. “He would refer to me as brother and I referred to him as brother as well. We were close.”
The 2 bonded over shared expertise. Adeleke grew up within the Bronx and his dad died younger whereas Johnson grew up in Chicago and didn’t have a lot contact along with his father.
“One thing we discussed was I’m African-American from the Bronx,” Adeleke mentioned. “One percent of Navy SEALS are African-American and I became a SEAL and I’m from the hood and that inspired him. I kind of took him under my wing and became like a father figure and would provide that affirmation to him.”
Johnson labored in government safety after leaving the Navy however had goals of turning into a pilot, Adeleke mentioned.
“I know he wanted to inspire other young Black men and kids in the inner city to aim high and do something that isn’t expected,” Adeleke mentioned. “Because it wasn’t expected for a kid from Chicago to become a pilot.”
Johnson would textual content each time he handed a milestone in flight college.
Gardiner Anderson / New York Each day Information
The mangled wreckage of a helicopter is lifted from the Hudson River in Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey after it crashed on Thursday. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Each day Information)
“He was a very genuinely good person. He was like a light in a room. Everybody gravitated towards him, not because he was a charismatic or the life of a party but because he had that aura of a calm, cool, respectable guy,” Adeleke mentioned. “He had a very memorable smile. He was always in a happy mood and he was super giving — like tremendously giving of his time and whatever he had to give.”
“The New York move was new to me,” he mentioned.
Then he obtained a message from Johnson’s spouse.
“It was a one-paragraph text but it was a long paragraph,” he mentioned. “Two words stuck out to me, ‘Sean’ and ‘passed.’”
Adeleke additionally was saddened by the loss of life of the vacationer household.
“Two generations wiped out,” he mentioned. “My prayers are with the family. The only blessing in it is that they were all together but I would just pray. As a parent that’s just a hard situation to even process.”
Messages of help have been pouring in, from “people who I didn’t know but was with him in flight school or worked with him in Vegas or did executive protection with him,” Adeleke mentioned. “He was just a straight up good dude, a likable dude. It would be hard for you to find someone who didn’t like him.”
