CHELSEA, NY — A helicopter crashed into the Hudson Wednesday as its pilot misjudged a West Side landing pad and hit the water, police said.
The pilot, the only person onboard, escaped the craft with minor injuries while a heliport worker was hit by debris but not hurt seriously, the FDNY said.
The helicopter was buoyed by police to stop it sinking to the bottom of the river at West 34th Street. The incident brought crowds of firefighters, police officers and onlookers and caused major disruption on the West Side Highway.
The helicopter came down around 2:25 p.m., falling short of a landing pad at West 30th Street on the Hudson River, the New York Police Department tweeted.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was “relieved to report there were no deaths or serious injuries after a helicopter incident on the Hudson river,” in a statement posted to social media. The mayor thanked first responders for the quick rescue and advised people to stay clear of West 34th St and 12th Avenue.
“The pilot is out of the water and the helicopter is secured. Please avoid the area,” the NYPD wrote on Twitter at 2:51 p.m.
A New York Waterways ferry crew assisted police during the rescue, the ferry company said in a statement Wednesday. Ferry captain Adam Sciaino was carrying passengers between West 39th Street in Manhattan and 14th Street in Hoboken when he saw the helicopter go down
A deckhand on the ferry, Edwin Montoya, deployed a rescue device and helped pull the helicopter pilot onto the ferry, the company said in a statement. The rescue was captain Sciaino’s second in 10 years with the ferry company.
“It was just instinct. Just another day for NY Waterway rescues. We’re right
here. Edwin Montoya is an outstanding deckhand. He moved instantly to the rescue,” Sciaino said in a statement.
A witness who had been eating lunch at the Frying Pan at Pier 66 said she saw the helicopter spinning out of control. She said she and her co-workers thought, “This looks weird.”
“We thought it was maybe doing a trick or something,” said the woman, who lives in Murray Hill and asked not to be named.
“We heard it hit — it was pretty loud. One of the propellers flew off probably 30, 40 feet in the water,” she said. “It kind of happened all at once. … We had already been watching it because we were like, ‘Woah, this thing is doing spins.'”
A video taken by a witness from the High Line shows the helicopter erratically spinning into an attempted landing and then going down in the river.
More than 60 firefighters as well as additional harbor units responded to the crash, an FDNY spokesman said.
#FDNY members remain on scene of a helicopter crash in the Hudson River. There are currently 2 non-life-threatening injuries reported – the pilot and one person on land injured by debris. pic.twitter.com/zJ5i1cK1Ge
— FDNY (@FDNY) May 15, 2019
#FDNY members remain on scene of a helicopter crash in the Hudson River. The helicopter is tied to the pier at this time. The pilot is on land, and was the only person on board. pic.twitter.com/AK5MvjvAP4
— FDNY (@FDNY) May 15, 2019
There are currently 2 non-life-threatening injuries reported on scene of a helicopter crash into the Hudson River – the pilot and one heliport worker injured by debris. #FDNY operations continue. pic.twitter.com/Z1hA2PBKMC
— FDNY (@FDNY) May 15, 2019