This Day In History

Aug 27 1967
While The Beatles are away in Bangor, Brian Epstein is found dead in his home. Officially, the cause of death was accidental overdose of sleeping pills, but many believe it was suicide. He was becoming increasingly depressed over his lack of involvement with the Beatles and also his personal turmoil caused by trying to keep his homosexuality a secret.



Aug 27 1968
TV newsman Dan Rather gets beaten up in front of cameras on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The reporter is trying to interview a delegate being dragged off the floor when the bruisers suddenly turn on the Rather. "He lifted me right off the floor and put me away. I was down, the breath knocked out of me, as the whole group blew on by me... In the CBS control room, they had switched the camera onto me just as I was slugged."



Aug 27 1979
The IRA assassinates Louis Earl Mountbatten by placing a bomb on his yacht off the coast of Ireland. Mountbatten was the Queen's cousin, a war hero, and one of the most respected people in England.

Aug 27 1990
Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan is killed when his Bell 206B helicopter crashes into a man-made ski hill near Elkhorn, Wisconsin.

Plane Lifted From Hudson; Final 2 Bodies Recovered

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Divers on Tuesday recovered the bodies of the final two of nine victims of Saturday's collision between a helicopter and small plane over the Hudson River, police said.

"They were inside the wreckage when we pulled it up," said New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne.

Earlier Tuesday, police divers had attached chains and straps to the plane's fuselage and used a crane to lift it from the riverbed 60 feet below the surface.

On Saturday, the Piper PA-32 Saratoga carrying three people collided with a helicopter carrying six people, five of them Italian tourists, killing all nine people aboard both aircraft.

The wreckage of the helicopter, operated by Liberty Helicopter Sightseeing Tours, was lifted Sunday nearly intact from the Hudson.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the collision, which occurred shortly after the helicopter took off from a heliport in Midtown Manhattan on what was to have been a 12-minute sightseeing tour around New York.

The Piper took off from New Jersey's Teterboro Airport and was bound for Ocean City, New Jersey. It began its flight Saturday morning at a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-area airfield.

Helicopter, Plane Collide Over Hudson River

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The search for those aboard a small plane and helicopter that collided Saturday over the Hudson River has become a recovery mission, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

Two bodies had been recovered, but it was unclear whether the second was from the crash, which authorities "do not feel was survivable."

Two passengers, including a child, and a pilot were believed to have been aboard the single-engine Piper PA-32 when it collided with the copter around noon between New York and Hoboken, New Jersey, Bloomberg said.

Five Italian tourists and a pilot were believed to be aboard the helicopter, which was operated by Liberty Helicopter Sightseeing Tours, Bloomberg said. iReport.com: See witness photos

Earlier, the Coast Guard reported it had rescued one person from the river.

No immediate information was available on the person rescued by the New York City Fire Department. People at the scene said nothing could be seen floating on the water.

Witness Arnold Stevens said after the plane had a wing sheared off, it began "corkscrewing" into the water. The helicopter "dropped like a rock" after the collision, which happened about noon.

The tour company has confirmed the helicopter was one of its own, FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac said.

A small plane landed at Teterboro to pick up one passenger late Saturday morning and took off at 11:54 a.m., said Ron Marsico, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The travelers filled out a flight plan indicating they were flying from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Ocean City, New Jersey, the FAA said.

Ben Berman, formerly with the National Transportation Safety Board, which will investigate the accident, said if the helicopter fell straight down, it's likely there was a rotor failure. iReport.com: Were you there? Send images

Witnesses reported seeing debris flying from the helicopter as it crashed.

Scott Schuman was with his grandparents on the Hoboken side of the river when they heard a loud bang.

"The plane was kind of whirlybirding its way down, brown smoke coming out the back of it, and it crashed into the water. Then a few seconds later the helicopter with debris falling off of it also hit as well," Schuman said.

"It was a scary sight," he added.

He said some of the debris fell in Hoboken, and "we covered our heads."

Asked if he had seen anyone in the water, Schuman replied, "I have not seen anything, but judging by the impact when the plane and the helicopter hit, it would be very unlikely for a positive outcome."

The busy airspace surrounding New York's Manhattan island has been the site of several aeronautical mishaps in recent history.

Earlier this year, a US Airways plane with 155 people on board ditched into the Hudson, apparently after striking at least one bird upon takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport, officials said.

Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger's landing, which resulted in no deaths or serious injuries, was captured on closed circuit television.

In 2005, Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor were killed when the 34-year-old ballplayer's plane crashed into a high-rise apartment building near the East River, city officials said.