NY Divers Will Try Raising Downed Plane

(HOBOKEN, N.J.) — Divers hope to pull a plane out of the Hudson River on Monday, but their first priority is to recover the bodies of two remaining victims of the air collision that killed nine people, a chief investigator said.

A Pennsylvania family and an Italian tourist group were killed in Saturday's crash of the small plane and a sightseeing helicopter in the busy skies of Manhattan.

Seven bodies were recovered — one teenage passenger on the plane and all six people aboard the helicopter. Divers resumed their search for the plane's pilot and an adult passenger on Monday. "We think we've had some positive hits on the skin of the airplane and we're very hopeful they'll be able to pull that up today," NTSB chief Debbie Hersman told CNN on Monday.

An Army Corps of Engineers crane lifted the twisted wreckage of the helicopter from 30 feet of water near the New Jersey shore on Sunday. A sonar scanner found the Piper Lancer nearby and more plane parts were found farther away under about 50 feet of water.

Hersman declined to speculate about the cause of the crash, the worst air disaster in New York City since a commercial jet crash in Queens killed 265 people in November 2001. The investigation is expected to take months.

Ben Lane warned fellow helicopter pilot Jeremy Clarke that the plane was bearing down on him. Lane told the Daily News in Monday's editions that another pilot heard him scream "Watch out! Watch out!"

He said he doesn't remember screaming, but does recall seeing a wing and chopper blades falling before both aircraft plummeted.

Lane said a crash was inevitable along the busy corridor. Helicopter pilots stay in constant radio contact, he said, but many small plane pilots do not.

Witnesses said the small plane approached the helicopter, which had just taken off for a 12-minute tour, from behind and clipped it with a wing. Hersman said the helicopter was gaining altitude at the time the two hit. Both aircraft split apart and fell into the river, scattering debris and sending weekenders enjoying the beautiful day running for cover.

The plane took off from the Teterboro Airport in New Jersey shortly before noon. Hersman said it was not required to have a flight plan and did not file one. The plane was flying at about 1,100 feet at the time of the crash, she said.

Associated Press writers contributing to this report include: Deepti Hajela, Suzanne Ma and Amy Westfeldt in New York City, Beth DeFalco in Trenton, N.J., JoAnn Loviglio in Blue Bell, Pa., Colleen Long in Chicago, Ariel David in Rome and AP News researcher Julie Reed.