Helicopter crashes over NYC river

The pilot was aboard the plane with a family of tourists including three British nationals and an Australian friend.

According to NYPD, two female passengers among the survivors are in critical condition and two males are in stable condition.

NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a news conference: "Apparently four or five people got out of the helicopter on their own. 

"It was inverted upside down when some of the people were rescued and some of the passengers who got out were holding on to the skids."

A man who witnessed the crash, Dan Sweeney, told Sky News the helicopter was headed for a nearby heliport when it crashed into the river near 34th Street, just south of the United Nations building.

"It went down pretty fast, you could see the splash, you could see the top of it and it just disappeared," he said.

"It looked like it was trying to land at the heliport and missed the landing."

Other witnesses said the private helicopter was sputtering and appeared to be in mechanical distress before coming down.

Weather conditions were clear with a light wind at the time of the crash.

According to US reports the pilot was Paul Dudley, director of Linden Airport in New Jersey.

Dudley piloted a Cessna light plane that made an emergency landing in a Brooklyn park in November 2006 after an engine failure.