Helicopter crash into East River kills 5 passengers

NEW YORK — A helicopter carrying six people over the East River, flying along a popular route for sightseers who want to view the Manhattan skyline, plunged into the chilly water Sunday night, killing five of the six people on board.

Witnesses from high-rise apartment buildings and parks along the river watched as the helicopter, losing altitude as if it were landing on solid ground, crashed into the river and began to sink shortly after 7 p.m.

Moments later, the pilot escaped, climbed to the top of the wreckage and yelled for help, a witness said. A flotilla of tugboats and emergency boats converged on the crash site, a couple of hundred yards north of Roosevelt Island, and began a frenzied search for others on board.

Emergency responders dived into the water to rescue the passengers, who were tightly harnessed in and had to be cut out, Daniel A. Nigro, commissioner of the New York Fire Department, said at a news conference.

All five passengers were killed, James Long, a Fire Department spokesman, said early Monday morning. Two were declared dead at the scene, and three died in local hospitals.

It was not immediately clear what caused the helicopter, a Eurocopter AS350 owned by Liberty Helicopters, to crash.

Liberty Helicopters could not be reached for comment Sunday night.

Nigro said the pilot was at a hospital and in “OK” condition.