NEW YORK – All five passengers on board were killed after a chartedhelicopter crashed into New York’s East River, City’s Police Departmentconfirmed on Monday.
The chopper’s pilot managed to free himself, while two people were declareddead at the scene of the crash but the rescuers pulled three otherpassengers from the water, however, upon reaching the hospital, they weredeclared dead.
The tragic incident took place on Sunday evening when a privately charteredhelicopter hired for a photo shoot, went down near Gracie Mansion, themayoral residence.
Video taken by a bystander and posted on Twitter shows the red helicopterland hard in the river after which is capsized, its rotors slapping at thewater.
The passengers were recovered by police and fire department divers, who hadto remove them from tight harnesses while they were upside down, FireCommissioner Daniel Nigro told CNN.
Witnesses standing near the site of crash said that the helicopter wasflying noisily before dropping into the water and submerging, however, thepilot appeared on the surface, holding on to a flotation device as thepolice boats approached.
WATCH VIDEO: link