Emergency helicopter landing in Bayonne renews safety concerns over Hudson tours

Breaking news right now, a helicopter makes a hard landing at the port in Bayonne. We are learning the pilot reported an engine out. You can see the chopper on the ground. The tail is broken off. Take a look at exactly where this is. The pilot coming very close to the water as the helicopter lands in a terminal at the port. News 12's Tony Caputo is there with the very latest on this scary situation, Tony. Good afternoon, Della. Let's start with the best news possible here, that there are no injuries reported, that those inside were okay. Now we're in Bayonne, we're right by the Teardrop Memorial, basically where you come to get on a cruise ship. Across the water, you can see that Port Authority property where the helicopter had landed hard. It wasn't necessarily called a crash landing, but it was a hard landing as it was described to us. And the helicopter compartment where the pilot and those on board would sit remained intact. You can see that in these pictures. Take a look. Now, it shows the damage to the helicopter from the ground. The name on the chopper is Nyon. It does run helicopter tours above the Hudson. This has been controversial in recent years. We'll have more on that as the day continues. Now, you can see the tail is off of the helicopter. When it came off, we don't know. We assume it was when it hit the ground. We'll try and get more information on that as well. According to FAA officials, this is a Bell 206 helicopter registered in Louisiana. When it came, according to FAA officials, again, This hard landing happened around 8.55 this morning. That's the former military ocean terminal on property owned by Port Authority. Now, the pilot reported an engine failure during a maintenance flight, then issued a Mayday call and reported a low RPM engine indication. The pilot later reported the engine was out, but added those on board were okay. It's believed two people were on board. Take a listen to the communication between the pilot and air traffic control. Do you see a spot that you'd like to land? Can you point it out? At the bay and piers, 954, and we have an engine out. Now I'm 5-4, roger. 954, two souls aboard, 500 pounds of fuel, we're going to land at bay and piers. Now I'm 5-4, roger. Now I'm 5-4, are you relatively stable? So far stable, 954. I'm 5-4, roger. Have you seen a good spot? Yes, I have a good spot, 954. Okay. We're making the calls right now the best we can. If you need anything from me, let me know. I'll let you know, 954. So again, that's a frightening situation, but the best possible news here, no injuries reported. Waiting for updates from the FAA, Port Authority, whoever will provide them at this point as we get more on this, we'll certainly have it for you. News 12, news12.com, and the News 12 app. That's the latest from Bayonne. Tony Caputo, News 12, New Jersey. Thank you, Tony, and again, no one was hurt. Thanks for that. Helicopters flying over the Hudson has been a large topic of debate after that tourist helicopter went down last spring, killing six people on board.