Five die as helicopter on photo shoot plunges into New York river
A PRIVATELY chartered helicopter has crashed into New York City’s East River, killing all five passengers on board.
The helicopter landed hard in the water before capsizing, with its rotors slapping at the water.
The machine, which had been hired for a photo shoot, went down near Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence. One person, the pilot, freed himself and was rescued by a tugboat.
The bodies of the passengers were recovered by police and fire department divers, who had to remove them from tight harnesses while they were upside down, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
“It took a while for the divers to get these people out. They worked very quickly as fast as they could,” Mr Nigro said. “It was a great tragedy that we had here.”
Witnesses on a waterfront esplanade near where the aircraft went down said the helicopter was flying noisily, then suddenly dropped into the water and quickly submerged. The pilot appeared on the surface, holding on to a flotation device as a tugboat and then police boats approached.
“It’s cold water. It was sinking really fast,” Mary Lee, 66, said. “By the time we got out here, we couldn’t see it. It was underwater.”
Celia Skyvaril, 23, said that she could see a person on what looked like a yellow raft or float yelling for help.
News footage showed one victim being loaded into an ambulance while emergency workers gave him chest compressions.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said the Eurocopter AS350 was owned by Liberty Helicopters.
The skies over New York buzz with helicopters carrying tourists, businesspeople, traffic reporters, medical teams and others. Crashes are not unknown.
In 2009, a sightseeing helicopter of the same model and operated by the same company collided with a small, private plane over the Hudson River, killing nine people.