More detail on this person: He'd flown helicopters during the Vietnam War, and later in New York
City for WABC-TV, as a news pilot, brought viewers close to countless horrific events: the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, the Staten Island ferry crash and the recent steam pipe explosion in
Manhattan.
But on Sunday evening it was doing something comparatively safe - standing on a midtown sidewalk -
that put Paul Smith in harm's way. Police say Smith, 60, of West Islip, and his wife Donna, 55, had
just left a restaurant when a taxicab jumped the curb and ran over him. Smith was taken to Bellevue
Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Yesterday, his wife remained there in
stable condition with a fractured leg. A 7-year-old boy had his arm broken in the crash, police
said. It was not clear whether he was related to Smith. No charges have been filed against the
driver, who tested negative for alcohol.
Police were reviewing security cameras and investigating the accident, which took place at Third
Avenue and East 40th Street. They said the cabbie said he was swerving to avoid another car. The
driver, Mohammed Chowdury, told reporters last night he was forced off the road by a black car that
cut him off. He had been driving a cab just five weeks, he said.
As word of Smith's death continued to spread among friends and co-workers yesterday, many recalled a
talented pilot keen on safety who shoveled his elderly neighbors' driveway and was close to his two
grown sons and wife. "No one's doing well, and how could they be?" said Shannon Sohn, a helicopter
reporter for WABC-TV who flew with Smith for the last 10 years. "But they're going to pull through
it because they were an amazingly strong family ... He raised boys who are going to get their mother
through this."
Smith's friends said he'd gotten his start in aviation during Vietnam, eventually flying some of the
most difficult helicopters to navigate. He completed two tours and continued his love for flying,
going on to become a pilot and director of safety for Helicopters Inc., a St. Louis-based company
that provides news helicopters.
"He was our guardian in that helicopter,"said Kenny Plotnik, vice president and news director for
WABC-TV. "Safety was his first, middle and last name."
Though he wasn't responsible for taking photographs or reporting, Sohn said, Smith quickly took on a
flair for news gathering - eager to be the first at the scene and get the best material, all the
while with an eye toward safety. It was Smith, Sohn recalled, who flew her toward the Henry Hudson
Parkway in Washington Heights when a retaining wall collapsed onto the roadway in 2005, and when a
helicopter for Channel 4 crashed on a Flatbush rooftop in 2004 - coverage of which won WABC-TV an
Emmy.
Despite any stress, Smith remained cool under pressure.
John Del Giorno, whose son also sat next to Smith in the newscopter for WABC-TV, remembered how
on Sept. 11, 2001, Smith had calmed his son as they were up in the air when the first plane struck
the World Trade Center. Del Giorno, a World War II veteran, said: "He treated me like I was a war
hero. I should have been treating him like a war hero."
Neighbors in West Islip recalled how proud he was of his two sons - one a recent college graduate,
the other a New York City police officer. "It makes you think how fragile life really is," said
Diane Belliveau. "This is going to leave a big emptiness on the street."
Maria Alvarez and staff writers Rocco Parascandola and John Valenti contributed to this story.
Copyright C 2007,
It is with great sadness that that I report the passing of one of our brothers, Paul M. Smith (Class
70-50) who served with 114th AHC in the Mekong Delta in 1971 and 1972. Paul was killed when an out
of control taxi hit him while on the sidewalk in NYC-his wife, Donna, was severely injured but is
recovering. Because of Donna's inability to travel, the funeral and burial will be sometime this
spring at Arlington National Cemetery.
After leaving the Army, Paul traveled and eventually returned to finish college with me in
Philadelphia (LaSalle University--1976). Paul went home to Oklahoma for a while and married Donna
Smith who he met in Philadelphia. Their first son Cory (now 26) was born in Oklahoma. Paul then
relocated to New York City for a flying job with Island Helicopters, and resided on Long Island.
Their second son, Cale (now 24), was born there.
For the last 10 years Paul has been flying for ABC 7 Eyewitness News in NYC. We always said Paul
had nine lives because he served two combat tours, one as a tank platoon commander and the other as
a helicopter pilot. He also had his share of helicopter incidents including a touch-down
autorotation to the East River in NYC after losing an engine with a load of foreign tourists. His
most telling comment was that he had it under control, and the biggest surprise was that when he
fired the floats, they actually both inflated. Paul also won an Emmy for covering the crash of
another news helicopter in NYC. Paul was flying the news helicopter on 9-11 at the World Trade
Center, where he arrived after the first plane hit but before the second one did.
Paul and I met in flight school, were stationed together in RVN, and then went to college together.
Paul was passionate about a number of things, and the big three were his family, aviation safety and
an overarching sense fairness and justice. Paul was a longtime member and former President of the
Eastern Region Helicopter Council and currently served as their Safety Committee Chairman. He will
receive (posthumously) the Helicopter Association International's Joe Mashman Safety Award at the
HAI's annual meeting in Houston on Feb. 25th, 2008. Paul touched many people over his life, and his
passing is a great loss to his family, fellow helicopter pilots and many others.
From: Rich Golaszewski
Burial information: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 10/11/2026
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