Helicopter Crashes Into East River; Passengers Are Rescued
Published: June 15, 2005
A tourist helicopter with seven people onboard crashed into the East River off Lower Manhattan shortly after takeoff this afternoon, but the passengers and the pilot were quickly pulled from the water by police rescue boats, the authorities said. One of the victims was critically injured.
The passengers, tourists from Australia and France, were taken to hospitals, a spokesman for the New York Police Department said. Though the authorities originally said that none of the injuries appeared to be serious, a hospital spokesman said this afternoon that one of the victim was in critical condition and was placed in a drug-induced coma after she swallowed a large amount of water and nearly drowned.
“We’re determining the extent of her injuries,” said the spokesman, James Saunders.
The accident occurred around 1:30 p.m. when the Bell 206 Long Ranger took off from the Wall Street heliport just south of the South Street Seaport.
The cause of the accident was not clear.
Five people were taken to Bellevue Medical Center, while the other two were taken to New York University Downtown Medical Center, according to a Fire Department spokesman. All but the woman at Bellevue are expected to be released by this evening, officials said.
The helicopter made a “hard landing” on the water, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Authority said, though it is unclear whether there was engine failure. The Police and Fire Departments as well as the Coast Guard responded to the crash.
Television pictures showed the helicopter bobbing upside down in the river - its pontoons inflated - secured by ropes to a ferry slip after it had been towed by the Police Department’s Harbor Unit.
The helicopter was operated by Helicopter Flight Services, Inc., whose Web site said that its Bell 206 Long Rangers are “turbine powered single engine helicopters, and are the safest and most reliable aircraft in the world.” The website added that the company, which charges $129 to $275 per person for helicopter tours of New York City, has been “operating for over 20 years without accidents, incidents or violations.” Phone calls to the company were not immediately returned.
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