At around 3:17 p.m., only fifteen minutes after the helicopter took off from the Wall Street Heliport, the disaster happened close to Lower Manhattan.
According to officials, the plane flew north toward the George Washington Bridge before abruptly turning south and plummeting into the river close to Hoboken, New Jersey.
The NBC footage, which was taken from a nearby building and went viral online, shows the chopper plummeting in a nose-down, skewed spiral before it hits the sea.
Concerns of a catastrophic mechanical failure were heightened by the aircraft’s apparent instability and the sections that seemed to separate in midair.
Authorities were promptly notified by onlookers when the plane crashed near the coast. “Our hearts go out to the family and those on board,” Mayor Eric Adams of New York City remarked at a press conference.
According to the FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is spearheading the investigation, which is still underway.
