Eight people were rescued after a Kodiak 100 seaplane made a hard landing in New York City's East River at about 12:01 p.m. off the marina at East 23rd Street and FDR Drive, officials said.
The New York City Fire Department said it received a call at 12:01 p.m. reporting a plane in the water near the NY Skyport at East 23rd Street and FDR Drive and arrived to find the seaplane upright in the water. FDNY units removed all eight people aboard and the aircraft was towed back to a nearby dock, the department said. The department said two civilians suffered minor injuries but declined medical attention at the scene.
Local reports said two of the plane's passengers received treatment for minor injuries after the incident. Ada Todd, 75, one of the passengers, told reporters from the hospital that she remained "in shock, in lots of pain, but happy to be alive."
The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot "made a hard landing," causing a wing strut to snap, that air traffic control "was not providing services to the aircraft" at the time, and that it will investigate and expects to post a preliminary accident report sometime this week. The FAA said eight people were aboard and that the aircraft is registered as N726SH; the agency said the information released Sunday is preliminary and subject to change.
Video taken from inside the plane showed the Empire State Building in view until a series of bumps led the pilot to call a mayday, officials said. Air traffic control recordings captured the pilot declaring a mayday before the aircraft came down, and separate radio traffic captured a police helicopter responding to reports of a "plane down in the water," the FAA said.
Images shared on social media show a white plane appearing to lean over on its side with the tip of its left wing in the water as a helicopter circled overhead.
Video also showed the plane bobbing in the water with one wing submerged; at least five ships aided the response and another seaplane was spotted nearby, police said, and the investigation is ongoing.
The FAA said the aircraft departed East Hampton Airport on Long Island and was headed to the Skyport seaplane terminal in Manhattan. The Skyport is New York City's only seaplane terminal, serving scheduled and charter flights to destinations throughout the Northeast.
Runner Jack Gonzalez said he sees several seaplanes landing on the river each hour on Sundays. "I'm not really surprised. It's bound to happen. It just seems a little more haphazard," Gonzalez said. "Sometimes they'll hit the water, then come back up, then come back down."
On June 13 a small two-seater seaplane was struck by a large wave while attempting to take off from the East River near Whitestone, Queens, and the FDNY took a pilot and one passenger onto a boat after that aircraft went down; no injuries were reported in that incident.