Federal air safety investigators are conducting a thorough inspection of the Liberty Helicopters Eurocopter EC-135 eight-place helicopter that ditched into the Hudson River about 4:30 p.m. on July 7 eight minutes into a ten-minute sightseeing tour of the Manhattan skyline. The eight people on board, including the pilot, were uninjured when the pilot heard a loud bang, experienced mechanical problems, decided to deploy emergency pontoons and landed on the river, according to a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesman. After the controlled water landing, the passengers and pilot, all wearing life jackets were plucked from the river within minutes by pleasure boaters. The rotorcraft was removed from the water on July 8 and moved to an Army Corps of Engineers facility in Jersey City, NJ, for a detailed inspection. Liberty Helicopters has operated aerial tours around New York City since the early 1990s.