Gothamist⁠77%

NTSB records point to possible bird strike before deadly Hudson River helicopter crash ⁠68%

By Phil Corso⁠47%

7/16/2026, 8:21:14 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 13 faulty reasoning types, including Post Hoc (False Cause), Ambiguity (Equivocation), and Representativeness Heuristic, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 26.9% saturation with 68 hits. Analysis detected 460 faulty-reasoning hits from 253 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 61.7% and a BS Rank of ⁠68% (6,651 of 20,453 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 67.50% of the article peer group.

Newly released federal investigative records suggest a bird strike may have played a role in last year's Hudson River sightseeing helicopter crash that killed a family of five visiting from Spain and the pilot. 
The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released hundreds of pages of factual reports from its ongoing investigation into the April 10, 2025 crash. 
The reports do not determine the cause of the accident, which remains under investigation, officials said. 
Among the newly released records are findings from the Smithsonian Institution's Feather Identification Lab, which identified bird remains collected from the helicopter wreckage, including evidence consistent with a mixed flock of Brant and Canada geese on the main rotor blades and left horizontal stabilizer. 
Investigators also documented a severed bird wing recovered near other helicopter debris. 
The operations report said bird remains were found during examinations of the fuselage and rotor blades after the crash. 
Witnesses also reported seeing large flocks of birds in the area shortly before the helicopter broke apart over the Hudson River. 
At the same time, a separate NTSB video analysis said that available footage showed "no discernible evidence" of a bird strike before the helicopter's in-flight breakup, noting that the videos were limited by distance, lighting, and image quality. 
The Bell 206L-4 sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair before crashing into the river near Jersey City, killing six people. 
The NTSB has not released its final report or probable cause determination. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 15.8%Phil Corso: 3.7%Gothamist: 2.7%Confirmation Bias15.8%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 1.5%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 13.0%Phil Corso: 3.5%Gothamist: 3.6%Availability Heuristic13.0%This article: 17.4%Phil Corso: 1.2%Gothamist: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic17.4%This article: 7.9%Phil Corso: 2.0%Gothamist: 0.7%Hindsight Bias7.9%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 1.0%Gothamist: 1.2%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 13.4%Phil Corso: 5.7%Gothamist: 8.4%Framing Effect13.4%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.8%Gothamist: 1.2%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 1.1%Gothamist: 1.1%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 3.1%Gothamist: 3.6%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.4%Gothamist: 1.7%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 15.0%Phil Corso: 5.5%Gothamist: 8.6%Negativity Bias15.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 5.8%Gothamist: 2.6%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.2%Gothamist: 1.0%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 2.1%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.6%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 1.4%Gothamist: 2.1%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.9%Gothamist: 1.3%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 1.1%Gothamist: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 1.0%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Straw Man0.0%This article: 26.9%Phil Corso: 4.5%Gothamist: 4.5%Appeal to Authority26.9%This article: 4.7%Phil Corso: 0.2%Gothamist: 1.2%False Dilemma4.7%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.8%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 4.7%Phil Corso: 2.1%Gothamist: 3.8%Hasty Generalization4.7%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.5%Gothamist: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 1.5%Gothamist: 0.8%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 10.7%Gothamist: 6.4%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 1.1%Gothamist: 0.7%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 25.7%Phil Corso: 5.6%Gothamist: 2.4%Post Hoc (False Cause)25.7%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 6.3%Phil Corso: 0.7%Gothamist: 0.4%Burden of Proof6.3%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 8.3%Phil Corso: 0.7%Gothamist: 2.8%Anecdotal8.3%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 22.5%Phil Corso: 0.9%Gothamist: 1.3%Ambiguity (Equivocation)22.5%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.3%Gothamist: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 1.0%Gothamist: 1.2%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 2.0%Gothamist: 1.0%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 2.6%Gothamist: 3.2%Biased Writer Voice0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 2.4%Gothamist: 1.6%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 1.0%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Phil Corso: 0.4%Gothamist: 1.1%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

253 words analyzed.

Speakers

2speakers47%attributed speech135writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 34 words • 0.0% coverageNational Transportation Safety Board • 24 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageSmithsonian Institution's Feather Identification Lab • 44 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageNational Transportation Safety Board • 38 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageNational Transportation Safety Board • 12 words • 0.0% coverage
100%flagged-word coverage
44 attributed words37% of attributed speech90% writer coverage

No manipulation-pattern hits were found in this speaker's attributed words or the writer's voice.

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.