NYPD bodycam video shows rescue after seaplane makes hard landing in East River
The NYPD released dramatic bodycam video of the rescue effort after a seaplane made a hard landing in the East River.
The plane went into the water near East 23rd Street and the FDR Drive at around noon Sunday.
Eight people were on board, including six passengers and two crew members. There were no serious injuries.
See the bodycam video
Video from the NYPD's Harbor Unit shows part of the response to the incident. The footage starts from inside the Harbor Unit boat, with officers spotting the downed plane and racing toward it.
"Pull me up alongside," one of the officers says.
Once along side, the officer can be seen throwing a rope to someone standing on the plane's pontoon.
"How many people you got?" the officer asks.
"Everybody's OK," the person replies.
The video then shows the plane passengers, wearing life vests, being escorted from the interior of the plane, onto the plane's pontoon and then onto the NYPD Harbor Unit boat.
"You're doing great"
The officer asks if anyone is missing.
"Come with me. You're doing great," one of the officers says as he assists a passenger climb aboard. "Watch your head. You're doing really good."
"Whether it's on land, in the air, or on the water, the NYPD is there for every emergency," Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch wrote on social media.
The seaplane, a Kodiak 100, was towed back to the dock.
"It was just insane"
Khloe Todd, 16, was on board the plane during the incident. She spoke with CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave.
"The plane was already tilted. It was just insane," Todd said. "I thought we were going to go down and drown. I thought we weren't going to make it."
Just three weeks ago, another seaplane crashed into the East River.
