2. Paul Smith
The cabbie who jumped a curb outside a midtown seafood restaurant - killing a TV helicopter pilot and injuring
two others - says he lost control when another car hit him and sped off.
"It was an accident. I think it was the black car's fault," cabbie Mohammed Chowdury, 23, who has been driving a
taxi for just two months, said yesterday.
"I just want the family to know it was an accident. I can't apologize enough for this."
Chowdury told cops he changed lanes on Third Ave. on Sunday night to pick up a fare when a black car came out
of nowhere, clipped him and fled.
Flying over the curb, Chowdury crashed into helicopter pilot Paul Smith, 60, who had just celebrated a friend's
birthday at Docks Oyster Bar on Third Ave. near 40th St.
"It just happened so fast. I don't know how I hit him. But all of a sudden, there was a man under my car,"
Chowdury said.
Smith, a chopper pilot for WABC-TV Channel 7, died of his injuries. His wife, Donna, was in stable condition
yesterday at Bellevue hospital with a broken pelvis and ribs and a bruised liver. The 7-year-old son of a family
friend was released yesterday from Bellevue.
"I didn't drive away. The man was hurt, and I wanted to help him. The black car left the accident. You don't run
away from an accident. You just don't do that," Chowdury told the Daily News outside his Queens apartment.
Witnesses said Chowdury's cab was speeding, and no one reported seeing a black sedan drive off. Cops seized
Chowdury's cell phone to see if he was talking on the phone when he crashed.
The Manhattan district attorney's office will determine whether Chowdury will face any charges after reviewing
witness statements and surveillance video, sources said.
3. Smith's family and colleagues yesterday mourned the loss of an outgoing family man, respected chopper pilot and
Vietnam veteran.
Smith, who grew up in Oklahoma, served two tours in Vietnam before he came East and went to work for private
helicopter companies.
He was in the air on Sept. 11, saw the second plane slam into the World Trade Center and kept a cool head needed
to document the terror attack, friends said.
"When we shot pictures that were seen by the world, and I was terrified, Paul took over," recalled News Copter 7's
John Del Giorno on Channel 7 News. "Paul's training kicked in, and Paul kept us in the air. He kept us safe and
more than anything, he kept me calm."
Helicopters Inc., where Smith doubled as safety director, grounded its New York fleet in tribute yesterday -
concerned also that pilots might be distracted by their colleague's death.
"The helicopter community, despite being competitive, is a very small family of people," said Joe Biermann,
chopper reporter for WCBS-TV Channel 2. "In all of New York, it's maybe 30 people. Everybody is family,
especially when we're on the ground."
Smith recently celebrated his 60th birthday in typical style - a huge backyard barbecue at his West Islip home and
a cliff-diving trip to Costa Rica.
While modest about his accomplishments, Smith was thrilled by the accomplishments of his sons, Cory, 26, and
Kale, 24. Cory, an NYPD officer at Brooklyn's 75th Precinct, recently won two citations for police work.
