to confirm the identity of the pilot. he s 33-year-old richard vance, who has reportedly been flying helicopters for a long time according to family members, and is said to be cooperating with investigators today. bill: had this company had problems before, laura? reporter: we ve been looking into the safety record of liberty helicopters. it does promote itself as the largest and most experienced helicopter sight seeing helicopter service in the northeast. but there have been several accidents. you might remember we reported on this in 2009. there was a really bad crash. a liberty helicopter and a small plane collided above the hudson river when five italian tourists and the pilot were killed. in 2007 one of the companies fell 500 feet into the hudson river. but that pilot was able to save the seven passengers. ntsb will be on the scene shortly and we will bring you developments. bill: thank you starting us off in manhattan.
yes, jillian, ntsb will be at the scene today to begin its investigation. as you mentioned the moment of impact was caught on tape by several witnesses. the private-sightseeing helicopter which is owned by liberty helicopters crashed 11 minutes after taking off from new jersey, six people including the pilot were on board. the pilot whose sources identify as richard vance made a may day call. he was able to free himself, however, his five passengers who were harnessed in were trapped in sub 40-degree east river waters that were churning and as i mentioned frigid, unfortunately those five all passed away. witness recounted for us what it was like watching the pilot get out. one person sort of climbed out of the helicopter, climbed on to the raft and was calling, screaming for help.
Detailed text transcripts for TV channel - CNN - 20180312:13:44:15 comparemela.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from comparemela.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
terrifying moment in helicopter with six people on board plunges into new york s frigid east river. look it s all caught on camera. we have just learned that all five passengers in that chopper are dead trapped inside as water rushed in. jillian: the pilot is the lone survivor and the new york post identifying him as richard. new video in fox news shows him walking away from heart-breaking scene moments after the crash, witnesses stunned by what they saw. it like landed almost like it was suppose today land and then it was completely under water. one person sort of climbed out of the helicopter and then since it was flipped over the rafts were visible and he climbed on to the raft and was calling, screaming for help. jillian: aircraft was being used for photo shoot when it went down, the cause not yet known but officials from ntsb are rushing over scene overnight to find out how it happened.
tourist helicopter into the river. you can see the impact right there. the pilot identified 33-year-old richard vance, the only survivor. this video shows him walking around moments after the crash. one person sort of climbed out of the helicopter and climbed onto the raft and screaming for help. jillian: the helicopter being used for a photo shoot when it went down and ntsb team investigate. nursing student found dead in off campus house in upstate new york. findly haley after responding to dead afterresponds check. republican rick saccone getting a boost from donald trump jr. on the campaign trail with a pair of events today in western pennsylvania.