The Eurocopter AS350 went down around 88th Street, near Gracie Mansion, at about 7:15 p.m. All five passengers of helicopter crashed into New York City’s East River Sunday night are dead, confirmed New York Police Department on Monday.
The tour helicopter crashed and flipped upside down in the lake, all five passengers aboard killed, said the NYPD spokesman. The bodies were recovered by police and fire department divers, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said:
“It took awhile for the drivers to get these people out. They worked very quickly as fast as they could,”
he informed and added that helicopter’s crash was the darkest tragedy.
The helicopter went down near Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence. The pilot freed himself and was rescued by a tugboat after the tourist helicopter plunged into the East River on Sunday night.
According to the witness Brianna Jesme, the crash looked horrible, helicopter’s pilot was able to get out and climb aboard a raft.
“There was about a minute where we didn’t see anyone come out. Then after a minute, we saw a man come out holding onto a raft screaming: ‘Help! help! Ah!’ and then inaudible screams,’
Ns Jesme said.
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene — three others were hospitalized in critical condition. They later died at Bellevue, NYPD confirmed in the morning on Monday.
