The New York City Police Department said Thursday that a helicopter crashed in the Hudson River.
“Due to a helicopter crash in the Hudson River, in the vicinity of the West Side Highway and Spring Street, expect emergency vehicles and traffic delays in the surrounding areas,” NYPD said in an announcement on X, formerly Twitter.
Four people were pulled from the water after the crash, WABC reported, citing law enforcement sources. Multiple media outlets reported that there were fatalities, but Newsweek was not able to independently verify that information.
Police responded to the crash at 3:17 p.m. ET, NYPD told Newsweek, adding that it occurred within the confines of the 6th precinct.
“The investigation remains ongoing,” police said.
The crash happened closer to the Jersey City side of the Hudson River, the New York City Fire Department told Newsweek.
Multiple witnesses saw the incident and posted footage of the crash to X.
According to FlightRadar, the helicopter was an N216MH, a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV.
“I think we’ve got a very difficult situation being faced,” Peter Goelz, an aviation analyst, told CNN as a number of boats were seen carrying out a rescue effort in the river.
“It is extraordinarily difficult to find things in the water…the water is very cloudy in the Hudson, it’s full of silt,” Goelz said. “With an accident such as this, it will stir up more silt from the bottom.”
He added: “It’s very cold, they don’t have divers on standby, so they’re going to have to mobilize divers who will take some time to get there. It doesn’t look, from these live shots, they know approximately where it is, but I’m not sure they don’t know exactly where it is.”
Newsweek reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration for comment via email.
Thursday’s crash is the latest in a string of recent aviation incidents that have made headlines. Earlier in the afternoon, two American Airlines jets carrying members of Congress bumped wings at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington.
DCA was also the site of a devastating midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet that left 67 people dead in January. (Newsweek)