A seaplane carrying eight people made a hard landing in New York City's East River on Sunday, snapping a wing strut and prompting a response from the city's fire department, officials said.
The FDNY said it received reports of a plane down in the water at around 12:01 p.m., off the marina at East 23rd Street and the FDR Drive in Manhattan. All eight people on board were removed from the plane by FDNY units. Two were evaluated for minor injuries, though at least one refused medical attention, according to the NYPD.
Video taken from inside the plane showed the Empire State Building visible through the windows during the approach before a series of hard bumps led the pilot to call a mayday.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft was a Kodiak 100 seaplane. The FAA said "the pilot of a Kodiak 100 seaplane made a hard landing in the East River near Brooklyn, New York, at about noon local time on Sunday, July 5, causing a wing strut to snap." A wing strut is a sturdy pole that connects the airplane's wing to the main body and helps support the wing in flight. The FAA said it will investigate and is expected to release a preliminary accident report later this week.
The seaplane had taken off from the Hamptons before the incident. After all passengers were removed, the aircraft was seen upright and being towed back to a dock.
Sunday's incident was the second seaplane accident on the East River in three weeks. On June 13, the FDNY brought a pilot and one passenger onto a boat after their plane went down near Whitestone, Queens. No injuries were reported in that earlier incident.
