Five killed as helicopter plunges into New York river

THE pilot of a helicopter which crashed killing five people on Sunday night told air traffic controllers that the engine had failed shortly before it plunged into New York’s East River.

His warning was heard on the recording of the mayday call he made to controllers at Laguardia airport.

The pilot, named locally as Richard Vance, 33, was the only survivor of the crash. Two of those on board were killed instantly while the other three passengers died from their injuries in hospital after being freed from the submerged wreckage by divers.

Unconfirmed reports suggested the pilot had told investigators that a piece of luggage could have inadvertently hit the fuel shut-off button. However, experts told The Daily Telegraph that this was unlikely. “The fuel shut-off is located on the ceiling and with a guard lock,” said James Healy-pratt, an aviation lawyer and qualified pilot.

Eyewitnesses described seeing the Eurocopter AS350 go down near the northern tip of Roosevelt Island at 7pm on Sunday. “It kind of looked as if it was supposed to be landing,” said Brianne Jesme, who witnessed the crash. “The moment it landed it was under.”

The passengers were reported to have chartered the flight for a photo shoot of the Manhattan skyline.

“It’s a great tragedy,” said Daniel Migro, the New York fire commissioner. “It took a while for the divers to get these people out.”

The flight was operated by Liberty Helicopters which has been in business for more than 30 years. It was the company’s third crash in 11 years according to an affiliate of CNN.

In August 2009, nine people died after a helicopter collided with a plane over the Hudson River in an accident attributed in part to a distracted air traffic controller. In July 2007 eight people were rescued after a Liberty helicopter dropped into the Hudson.

Liberty Helicopters did not respond to a request for comment.