Five Dead After Helicopter Crashes Into New York’s East River
A helicopter crashed in New York City’s East River last night, killing five passengers after the aircraft experienced engine failure mid-flight.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday, East River engine failure,” said the pilot moments before the helicopter went down.
While the pilot survived the incident, as he was able to escape the cockpit when the helicopter hit the water, the five fatalities were the result of the tight harnesses.”One of the most difficult parts of the rescue were that five people were tightly harnessed,” New York fire commissioner Daniel Nigro said. “People had to be cut out.”
Footage showed the pilot walking with firefighters after the crash:
Video footage shows survivor emerging from the helicopter crash in New York City’s East River, officials tell CBS New York. https://t.co/363xIKBsYe pic.twitter.com/aV4r67gBaP
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 12, 2018
Incidentally, the charter company involved in the crash, Liberty Helicopters, has a history of crashes in the past dozen years. Despite describing themselves as “the largest and most experienced helicopter sightseeing and charter service in New York City” and saying they “have been in business and flying safely for over 30 years,” this is their third crash since 2007, per CNN.
A 2009 incident led to the death of nine people, while a 2007 crash resulted in no fatalities but a Liberty helicopter did go down into the Hudson river in a similar situations as last night.
Watch above, via Fox News.
[image via screengrab]
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