LACEY, N.J. -- Federal investigators said Wednesday that the Atlantic City-bound helicopter carrying three key players in Donald Trump's casino empire was doomed once the aircraft lost its main rotor blade.
The three top executives and two crewmen were killed in the crash Tuesday.
Sources said Trump himself was scheduled to be on the flight but decided at the last minute he was too busy to leave New York.
State police secured the heavily wooded crash site along the Garden State Parkway about 30 miles north of Atlantic City so the National Transportation Saftey Board could inspect the wreckage and search for missing parts of the aircraft.
Asked whether there were any indications of foul play, Trooper Donald Cosgrove said, 'That's pretty early to say but any information like that will come from the FAA along with the NSTB.'
He said state police was conducting an investigation but would rely on the federal agencies to determine the cause of the crash.
The board's regional director, Frank Ghiorsi, said it appeared from the sole eyewitness account of the moments before the helicopter plunged into the median that the five-seater helicopter lost its main rotor blade.
'He said he heard a loud bang. It appears, based on the witness' account, that the main rotor blade separated from the aircraft,' Ghiorsi said.
'Once the main rotor blade is off, the pilot has no way to control the aircraft,' Ghiorsi said. 'The aircraft was doomed after that.'
He said the loss of the rotor blade was not a typical problem with the aircraft. A final report on the crash was not be completed for about six months.
Stephen F. Hyde, 43, chief executive officer of Trump Castle Hotel & Casino, Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino and the unfinished Trump Taj Majal Casino Resort; Mark Grossinger Etess, 38, president and chief operating officer of the Taj Mahal, and Jonathan Benanav, 30, executive vice president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, were killed along with two crew members.
The pilot was identified as Capt. Robert Kent of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., and the co-pilot was identified as Lawrence Diener of Westbury, N.Y., said New Jersey State Police.
Hyde and Etess were key figures in the billionaire's push to become a force in boxing. The helicopter, rented from Paramount Aviation, was returning to Atlantic City from a New York news conference to announce an upcoming professional fight.
'These were three fabulous young men in the prime of their lives,' Trump said in a statement. 'No better human beings ever existed. We are deeply saddened by this devastating tragedy, and our hearts go out to their families.'
Trump left his New York office and went to Atlantic City Tuesday evening to console family members.
Walter Read, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, called Hyde 'an outstanding example of the sort of executive that Atlantic City needs so badly.
'His loss is a terrible blow to the entire industry as well as the Trump organization and he will be missed. I have also known Mark Etess as a fine example of a modern hotel casino executive and his loss will also be felt deeply.'
Golden Nugget Inc., chief Steve Wynn said he and his colleagues were shaken by the deaths of Hyde and Etess, who were once executives in Wynn's former Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City before joining Trump's empire.
'We're devastated here,' Wynn said from his office at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas. 'Everyone is in a complete catatonic state here. We've never seen anything like this. These men were our good friends, two real winners.'
Wynn said Etess had just left Las Vegas Sunday after speakingat the World Gaming Congress and Expo held at Caesars Palace.
The crash provided a stark contrast to the event the officials were attending at the Plaza Hotel to announce the junior welterweight bout between Hector 'Macho' Camacho and Vinny Pazienza.
Etess had sat grinning at the antics of Camacho as he paraded around in silver sequins, fur, sunglasses and an assortment of 'Macho' jewelry.
'I'll dedicate this fight to Mark, it means that I will give two or three hundred percent,' Camacho said. 'I'm not doing it for Donald Trump or for anyone else I'm dedicating it to Mark Etess.'
