Chopper crashes in East River in New York City with five passengers

Helicopter Crashes Into East River: MyFoxNY.com

2011-10-05 04:03:33

NEW YORK, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A helicopter on Tuesday crashed into East River in the U.S. city of New York with five passengers on board, and four of them are being treated and one still missing, local media reported.
The accident occurred mid-afternoon on Tuesday off the east 34th street heliport on Manhattan's East River.
New York City emergency units quickly responded and scuba divers entered the water in search of the person reported missing.
The overturned helicopter was partially visible, its skids breaking the surface and its underbelly just under water, with scuba divers next to it.

English tourist dies and three others rescued after helicopter crash in New York's East River

• Five people on helicopter that took off from Manhattan
• Four people alive including pilot but one person died
• Two survivors seen clinging onto the craft and rescued
• Eyewitness says it dropped fast and he saw big splash

By Mark Duell

Last updated at 10:18 PM on 4th October 2011

An English tourist has died and three others were rescued after the helicopter they were flying in crashed seconds after take-off.
Four of the five people onboard the helicopter are alive after being pulled out in the East River off Manhattan, New York, including the pilot.
Five people were on board the Bell 206 tourist helicopter - and two survivors could be seen clinging onto the craft as they were rescued.
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Rescue effort: An English tourist has died and three more were rescued after the helicopter they were flying in crashed seconds after take-off

Search: Four of the five people onboard the helicopter are alive after being pulled out in the East River off Manhattan, New York, but one has died

One of the five people rescued was the veteran pilot, called Paul Dudley. The remaining four passengers on board were all tourists from England.
Three passengers pulled out were women and one was male. The three surviving passengers have all been taken to hospital.

'It went down pretty fast. You could see the splash - you could see the top of it and it just disappeared'

Eyewitness Dan Sweeney

The pilot was treated at the scene. His helicopter was not equipped with floats.
Scuba divers, police and fire units were all deployed in the area, where local media reported the water temperature as around 66F.
At least seven boats were involved in the East River rescue effort and ladders were used to pull survivors out of the cold water.

In the water: Five people were on board the Bell 206 tourist helicopter - and two survivors could be seen clinging onto the craft as they were rescued

Location: The crash happened just off the helipad at East 34th Street in Manhattan

The helicopter was not visible in the water and is believed to have sunk to the bottom upside down. It was only 20ft above the water when it dropped.
'It sank fast,' witness Luis Reyes told the New York Post. 'There were two guys on the outside holding on, screaming: "Help! Help!"'

'The water is not too cold, but even 60 degrees can be dangerous'

Coast guard spokesman

It had reportedly just taken off from the East 34th Street heliport in Manhattan when it hit the water.
'The water is not too cold, but even 60 degrees can be dangerous,' coast guard spokesman Erik Swanson told the New York Post.
Eyewitness Dan Sweeney told NBC: 'It went down pretty fast. You could see the splash - you could see the top of it and it just disappeared.'

Pulled out: Scuba divers, police and fire units were all deployed in the area, where the water temperature is around 66F

Rescue: Five people were on board the Bell 206 tourist helicopter. Two could be seen clinging onto the craft as they were rescued

The chopper, a Bell 206 Jet Ranger, is one of the world's most popular helicopter models and was first flown in January 1966.

They are light and highly manoeuvrable, making them popular with television stations and air taxi companies. They cost up to $1.2million.

In August 2009 a small plane collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River, west of Manhattan, killing nine people, including five Italian tourists.

A government safety panel found that an air traffic controller who was on a personal phone call had contributed to the accident.

Model: A Bell 206 helicopter takes off from a heliport in New York City (file picture)

Location: A helicopter lands at the East 34th Street heliport (file picture)

The Federal Aviation Administration changed its rules for aircraft flying over New York City's rivers after that collision.

Pilots must call out their positions on the radio and obey a 161mph speed limit. Before the changes, such radio calls were optional.

Earlier that year, an Airbus 320 airliner landed in the Hudson after hitting birds and losing both engines after taking off from LaGuardia Airport.

The flight, U.S. Airways Flight 1549, became known as the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ plane.

Helicopter Crashes Into East River: MyFoxNY.com

Queda de helicóptero em rio mata mulher em Nova York

Aeronave ficou totalmente submersa no East River na tarde desta terça (4).
Quatro pessoas foram resgatadas das águas do rio.

Do G1, com agências internacionais

A  queda de uma helicóptero com cinco pessoas a bordo matou uma mulher na tarde desta terça-feira (3) no East River, em Nova York, segundo a polícia.
O acidente ocorreu próximo ao heliporto da Rua 34, em Manhattan, às 15h24 locais, logo após a decolagem do helicóptero, um modelo Bell 206 comercial, segundo Paul Browne, porta-voz da polícia.

Imagem da TV WCBS mostra sobreviventes da queda do helicóptero agarrados à aeronave, submersa no East River, na tarde desta terça-feira (4) (Foto: AP)

Os motivos do acidente ainda não estavam claros.

O helicóptero ficou totalmente submerso na água lodosa, virado de ponta-cabeça.
O piloto e três passageiros foram resgatados logo depois da queda. Dois dos sobreviventes estão bastante feridos, segundo os bombeiros.
Equipes de resgate continuaram as buscas pela quinta pessoa, até que seu corpo foi encontrado sem vida..
Pelo menos dez barcos, a maioria da polícia, além de mergulhadores, participaram da tentativa de resgate.
A testemunha Joy Garnett afirmou que o helicóptero fez movimentos estranhos e girou duas ou três vezes antes de parar na água.
Ela chegou a achar que era alguma filmagem de cinema.
Ele teria caído de uma altura de cerca de 8 metros, segundo ela.

Imagem da TV local mostra os trabalhos de resgate (Foto: Reprodução de vídeo)

 

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