A helicopter carrying top executives of the financial services company MBNA Corp. plunged into New York's East River last night, the second helicopter crash this week in the waters off Manhattan.
The two pilots and all six passengers were rescued from the choppy water. One pilot was in a critical condition. The other seven were released from the hospital last night, including the company's chief executive, Bruce Hammonds.
The Sikorsky S-76 went down seconds after taking off from the 34th Street heliport near the United Nations. The chopper made it barely one block north before it suddenly tumbled tail-first into the water.
Witness Thomas Overby, 48, said the helicopter appeared to take off normally before something went wrong. Once it hit the water, Overby spotted men in business suits screaming "Help!" as they bobbed in the river.
Three of the victims had been swept by the current more than a dozen blocks south before they were rescued, apparently by a private vessel.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The helicopter sank afterward and was later pulled from the river using a crane.
The helicopter, operated by MBNA, was headed for the company's headquarters in Wilmington, Del. The company is the world's largest independent credit card lender.
The National Transportation Safety Board, already in the New York area after the first crash, will also investigate Friday's incident.
On Tuesday, another helicopter crashed into the East River shortly after takeoff for a sightseeing flight. One of the six tourists aboard that flight was still hospitalized on Friday.
MBNA identified the other people on Friday's flight as: Lance Weaver, chief administrative officer; Ric Struthers, a vice chairman; Douglas Denton, chief technology officer; Frank Bramble, senior adviser to Hammonds; Thomas Wren, treasurer; and pilots Blair Payton and Mark Schaberg, who was hospitalised.
AP