- A private charter helicopter crashed into New York City's East River on Sunday evening.
- The aircraft, which belonged to Liberty Helicopters, hit the water and flipped over around East 90th Street between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island.
- It had five passengers on board, all of whom have been confirmed dead.
- The pilot managed to escape and survive.
Five people have died after a helicopter crashed into New York City's East River and flipped over on Sunday evening.
The aircraft, a bright red Eurocopter AS350 belonging to tour company Liberty Helicopter Tours, was recorded descending into the water around 7 p.m. in footage uploaded to social media:
@cnn@FoxNews just witnessed a helicopter crash into the East River .. hope everyone’s ok. Caught it all on tape! pic.twitter.com/saHOMTLR69
— JJ Magers (@JJmagers) March 11, 2018
According to police, the pilot managed to escape, but all five passengers inside were trapped in their safety harnesses and could not make it out.
Two were already dead by the time rescuers reached the scene. The other three passengers were taken to hospital and later declared dead there.
A witnesses, local resident Brianna Jesme, told the Reuters news agency that the helicopter " kind of hit sideways and just flipped over."
The helicopter was upside down and completely submerged. Firefighters and @nypdnews divers removed five people from the helicopter -#FDNY Commissioner Nigro
— FDNY (@FDNY) March 12, 2018
According to CNN, the pilot made a radio distress call to New York's LaGuardia airport saying that the helicopter's engine had failed.
At a press conference late Sunday night, NYPD Commissioner James P. O'Neill said the helicopter was on its way back from a photo shoot when it crashed.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash to figure out exactly what happened.
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