Why the so-called Jesus nut could be a key piece of evidence in Hudson River helicopter crash

A fist-sized piece of steel known as the “Jesus nut” could be a crucial piece of evidence in the horrific helicopter crash that killed a Spanish family of five and their pilot in Manhattan earlier this week.The so-called “Jesus nut” holds the main rotor to the mast of some helicopters — and some experts have speculated that it could have been why the chopper broke apart midair.“What appears to have happened with this particular helicopter is that the rotor, the main rotor… had detached, because in one video we see the blades spinning away from the helicopter,” aviation analyst Julian Bray told The Sun.“But this appears to have sliced through the back half of the helicopter, so the fuselage then drops like a stone into the river Hudson right opposite Pier 41.”Bray also said that it’s standard procedure to regularly check the “Jesus nut.”“There is a particular procedure which has to be checked every time it’s serviced, and it’s known as the ‘Jesus bolt’ … because without that the whole thing will fall apart,” he said.“It’s either defective or wasn’t tightened up, or for some reason it sheared.”The chopper’s rotors are still missing, the National Transportation Safety Board said at a press conference Friday.The term “Jesus nut” was most likely coined during the Vietnam War — referring to the fact that if it happened to detach, the only thing the crew could do was pray to Jesus, according to Technology.org.The tragic crash on Thursday afternoon took the lives of the pilot, Navy veteran Sean Johnson, 36, and a family of tourists — Agustín Escobar, 49, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, and their three children — Augustin, 10, Mercedes, 8, and Victor, 4 — in tow.Mercedes would’ve celebrated her 9th birthday on the Big Apple trip.The family embarked on the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV sightseeing chopper, which broke apart in midair and plunged into the Hudson River 25 minutes into its tour of Manhattan.

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