NYPD: At Least 2 Dead In East River Helicopter Crash
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- At least two people were killed and three others were in critical condition Sunday night after a helicopter crashed in the East River, the NYPD said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said a Eurocopter AS350 went down in the river near the northern end of Roosevelt Island at around 7 p.m.
The NYPD said there were six people on board. CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported the pilot survived and was taken to Bellevue Hospital.
"The pilot freed himself. The others did not," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
The FAA initially said the helicopter was inverted in the water, but the NYPD later said it was submerged and upside down. Numerous NYPD and FDNY units were on the scene. Several divers entered the 40-degree water, officials said.
"It's cold water. It was sinking really fast," Mary Lee, 66, told the New York Post. "By the time we got out here, we couldn't see it. It was under water."
A bystander, Susan Larkin, told The Associated Press that she went down to see rescue boats in the river and a police helicopter circling overhead, hovering low over the water.
"You could clearly see they were searching," she said.
The NYPD said the helicopter is owned by Liberty Tours and prior to the crash was in the air doing a photo-shoot, CBS2's Ali Bauman reported.
In 2009, a sightseeing helicopter of the same model and operated by the same company as the one in Sunday's wreck collided with a small, private plane over the Hudson River, killing nine people, including a group of Italian tourists.
A crash in October 2011 in the East River killed a British woman visiting the city for her 40th birthday. Three other passengers were injured.
A helicopter on a sightseeing tour of Manhattan crashed into the Hudson River in July 2007, shaking up the eight people aboard but injuring no one. In June 2005, two helicopters crashed into the East River in the same week. One injured eight people including some banking executives. The other hit the water shortly after takeoff on a sightseeing flight, injuring six tourists and the pilot.
Nigro and Police Commissioner James O'Neill said the rescue operation Sunday took place in a 4 mph current in water about 50 feet (15 meters) deep, under challenging conditions.
The cause of the crash is unknown. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
