ABC7 published a picture of a drone part that remained inside the helicopter after the collision.
This image shows a broken arm and motor of a DJI Phantom 4 stored in a zipper plastic bag.
Reporter Tom Kaminski from WCBS 880 was able to take a look at the damage.
He said that “as that drone came apart, a piece of it was actually found upon landing up on the transmission deck,
right at the bottom of the main rotor system.”
The incident allegedly took place along the east shore of Midland Beach in Staten Island, New York.
The area just falls outside the five miles radius of Newark Airport. It is also located under the Class B airspace which begins at 1,500 feet above ground level.
According the New York Post, the collision occurred at 8:15 p.m. on Thursday, September 21.
This timing suggest that the drone pilot was flying at night which is against the FAA regulation (unless the operator obtains a waiver).
The area is currently filled with Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) due to VIP traffic but I was not able to consult the history of active TFR at that time in this location.
Altitude
First reports mentioned that the Black Hawks helicopters were flying at 500 feet.
The maximum altitude above ground level for drone flight is set to 400 feet by the FAA regulation.
