>> 50 feet of water there, there was a four mil an hour current. the temperature's below 40. >> reporter: the crash occurring just after 7:00 p.m., local time and manhattan's upper left side. the helicopter is loning by liberty helicopter tours. authorities say it was privately chartered for a photo shoot. in 2009, nine people were killed and another helicopter was -- police say a private tug boat was the first vessel on the scene and helped with the rescue efforts. >> great trajly on a otherwise quiet sunday evening. >> reporter: remarkable for the mts b that it has the photographic evidence of the moment this crasher crashed into the water, that will be very very valuable for that. in addition, it's already tweeting out rg asking anyone