By Jacob Burg
A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River just off Manhattan on April 10, killing all six on board, authorities said.
The incident occurred at roughly 3:15 p.m. on Thursday in the vicinity of the West Side Highway and Spring Street on Manhattan’s west side, according to the New York Police Department.
Authorities said six people were on board, including three children and three adults. Rescue teams pulled the six occupants from the water, who all died in the crash, officials confirmed.
Videos posted to social media showed the helicopter mostly submerged while appearing upside down in the water.
Units were on scene performing rescue operations, the fire department said. Videos showed rescue boats circling the aircraft.
The rescue craft were seen in a location close to the Manhattan waterfront, situated close to the end of a long maintenance pier for one of the Holland Tunnel’s ventilation towers.
The New York City Police Department referred questions on the status of the helicopter’s occupants to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The U.S. Coast Guard did not have information on the status of the six occupants when contacted, but confirmed three were adults and three were children.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that the helicopter, a Bell 206, had crashed and submerged in the Hudson River.
“The number of people on board is unknown at this time. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board [NTSB] will investigate,” an FAA spokesperson said.
The NTSB will lead the investigation and will provide any updates, the FAA said.
In a post on social platform X, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said authorities are “on the scene at the heartbreaking and tragic crash in the Hudson River.”
“@FDNY and @NYPDnews are assisting first responders closer to the New Jersey side of the river. Please avoid the area near Pier 40 in Manhattan in the meantime,” Adams wrote.
Manhattan’s skies are often filled with both helicopters and planes, including private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights.
The area has seen multiple crashes over the years, such as the 2009 collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson River that killed nine people. In 2018, a charter helicopter that offered “open door” flights crashed into the East River, killing five.
Earlier this year, seven died after a medical transport plane plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood. That occurred just two days after the deadly midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet over the Potomac River near Washington. All 67 occupants aboard both aircraft died in the incident.
While some Americans have grown increasingly worried about air travel this year following the string of recent incidents, aviation experts and an analysis of NTSB data suggest flying remains the safest form of transportation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
