A helicopter carrying five people has reportedly crashed in New York City’s East River near the 34th Street heliport. Police rescuers are on the scene and three people were trapped as of 3:27 p.m. local time, according to NY Scanner. CBS has a live video feed of the rescue attempt. We’ll be updating as more information becomes available.
Update: The New York Post reports that the helicopter crashed at 3:24 p.m. “and sank to the bottom upside down within minutes” on Manhattan’s East Side.
Update 2: NY Scanner says four people, one unconscious, have been removed from the water, and that police divers are still in the water.
Update 3: The Associated Press reports that the helicopter is a Bell 206 model, and confirms that of the five aboard, the pilot and three others have been taken from the water. ABC News says a woman is still missing.
Update 4:
Update 5: The New York Times has an update on those aboard:
Two injured women were taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, fire officials said.
“One is in cardiac arrests and one is in respiratory arrest,” said James Long, a department spokesman.
A man was in “serious condition” at New York University Langone Medical Center.
Update 5: CBS reports that a fifth person has been pulled from the helicopter, but her condition is as of yet unknown.
Update 6: The woman has been pronounced dead.
Update 7: Sky News identifies the four passengers on board as British tourists, although Mayor Bloomberg said in a press conference this evening that two were British and resided in Portugal, while the other two lived in Australia.
Update 8: NYCAviation.com identifies the pilot as Paul Dudley, who the Times says is the same man who crash-landed a small plane in a Brooklyn park back in 2006.
Helicopter goes down in East River [NYP]
Helicopter crashes into NYC’s East River [AP]
Live Blog: Helicopter Crashes in East River [NYT]
