Woman dies in NY helicopter crash

A WOMAN died and three others, believed to be British tourists, were seriously injured after a helicopter crash in New York yesterday.

The four passengers were pulled out of the East River after the accident happened at 3.22pm local time.

A spokesperson for the New York Fire Department said: “Two females are in a critical condition. One had suffered a cardiac arrest and one a respiratory arrest.

“They were both taken to Bellevue Hospital.”

The injured man was taken to NYU Hospital.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: “We are urgently investigating reports.”

The private helicopter went into the river off 34th Street in midtown Manhattan. It is unclear what caused the crash.

A massive rescue effort was under way with a dozen boats and divers down into the cold, grey water.

Witnesses said the helicopter had lifted about 25 feet off the ground before it dropped into the water without much of a splash.

It flipped over, and the blades were sticking up out of the river. People on the dock started throwing in life jackets and buoys.

The Bell 206 Jet Ranger is one of the world’s most popular helicopter models and was first flown in January 1966.

On August 8, 2009 a small plane collided with a helicopter over the East River, killing nine people, including five Italian tourists.

A government safety panel found that an air traffic controller who was on a personal phone call had contributed to the accident.

The Federal Aviation Administration changed its rules for aircraft flying over New York City’s rivers after that collision. Pilots must call out their positions on the radio and obey a 161 mph speed limit. Before the changes, such radio calls were optional.

Earlier that year, an Airbus 320 airliner landed in the Hudson River after hitting birds and losing both engines. The flight became known as the Miracle on the Hudson plane.

Picture: Divers prepare to enter the waters of the East River after the helicopter crashed.