Crash victim's wife skipped sightseeing flight to shop

The wife and mother of Italian tourists killed in Saturday's air collision over the Hudson River skipped the sightseeing flight to go shopping, according to media reports.

Michele Norelli, 51, his wife, Silvia Rigamonti, and their son, Filippo Norelli, 16, were visiting New York from Bologna, Italy, to celebrate the couple's 25th wedding anniversary.

But Rigamonti decided to visit New York stores instead of seeing its sights from above. Her husband and son were killed when their sightseeing helicopter collided with a single-engine plane, a Piper Saratoga PA-32, above the Hudson River.

The Norellis were ecstatic to be spending their anniversary in New York, their oldest son told Stampa newspaper in Turin, Italy.

"They used to talk about their trip at dinner with enthusiasm, of their silver anniversary and how they were going to celebrate it together. My aunt gave them the trip as a gift," the paper quotes Davide Norelli saying.

The 23-year-old economics major told Italian reporters that he was too busy with college studies to make the trip.

He also told Italian media that when he saw news of the crash, he called his mother and was relieved at first because she answered. Then came the devastating news, which he had to break to his 92-year-old paternal grandmother.

Three other tourists from Italy, Fabio Gallazzi, 49; his wife, Tiziana Pedroni, 44; and their son Giacomo Gallazzi, 15, along with pilot Jeremy Clarke, 32, also were killed when the helicopter plunged into the river.

Killed aboard the plane were the owner and pilot, Steven Altman, 60, of Ambler, Pennsylvania; his brother, Daniel Altman, 49, of Dresher, Pennsylvania; and Daniel Altman's 16-year-old son, Douglas.

Divers have recovered the bodies of seven victims and went back into the river Monday morning in search of the final two.

The wreckage of the chopper was pulled up Sunday.

"Almost all of it was intact," National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Debbie Hersman told CNN's "American Morning" on Monday.

Early Monday, divers said they believe the plane has been located as well. "We are very hopeful they might be able to pull that up today," Hersman said. "Deep water, fast currents -- there is a lot of challenges for the divers. We'll have to see what they can accomplish today." Watch the NTSB official discuss the accident »

Investigators are probing whether the high level of air traffic over the Hudson was a factor in the crash.

"This is a congested corridor," Hersman said. "And so I think we're going to have to see what the investigation develops, what the facts tell us, and then we will look to determine recommendations to prevent something like this from happening." See where the collision occurred »

Clarke, the pilot of the helicopter -- a Eurocopter AS350 -- had worked for Liberty Helicopter Sightseeing Tours for about a year and a half and had 2,700 helicopter flight hours, Hersman said.

The plane took off from a Philadelphia-area airfield Saturday morning, landed at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport and was bound for Ocean City, New Jersey.

Controllers lost contact with the plane at 11:53 a.m. ET when it was at an altitude of about 1,100 feet, Hersman said.

Investigators will focus on radio communications along the congested air corridor at the time of the crash and will examine any images contributed by the public.

Neither aircraft was required to carry the cockpit voice and flight data recorders found on larger planes. But electronic navigational devices on board might retain information that could help the crash investigation, Hersman said.

Investigators are unlikely to determine the probable cause of the crash for some time, Hersman said.

"We are looking at everything. Nothing has been ruled out," she said.

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