Metro

Helicopter goes down in Hudson River

A commuter helicopter crash-landed in the Hudson River Wednesday just feet from the shore — sending debris flying into the air and onlookers ducking for cover.

The Zip Aviation pilot was alone in the Bell 206 when it went down about 150 feet from the shoreline near 12th Avenue and West 30th Street at 2:26 p.m. — and survived the dramatic plunge relatively ­unscathed, officials said.

“It was wild. It was wild,” said witness Ashton Byrd, 28. “We just watched the helicopter take off, man. It kind of started to spiral out of control.”

The pilot — identified as Eric Morales, 35 — had just refueled at the West 30th Street Heliport when he “felt the ­[helicopter] go down,” NYPD Assistant Chief Stephen Hughes told reporters.

Video posted to social media shows the chopper traveling south about 100 feet above the water when it spins about 180 degrees as it quickly loses altitude.

“It almost looked like he was turning. Then he started wobbling, and kind of floated backwards,” said witness Nick Carpenter, 26.

“You see him go down and the airbags pop out. You hear the propellers hit the water.”

The pilot made it out and was rescued by an NY Waterway ferry.

“It happened so fast, it looked like it was a tailspin. And then he went right in the water,” ferry captain Adam Sciaino told The Post.

“I got right on top of the helicopter. [The pilot] came out, he came out of a door or window. He climbed up our ladder and we asked if he was OK. He was a little shaken, but he was good.”

Morales suffered a hand injury, while a heliport worker trying to dodge the falling chopper slipped and hurt his wrist, Hughes said.

The helicopter was emblazoned with the logo for Blade — a commuter company known as the “Uber for helicopters” — but a rep for the firm said that although it uses Zip Aviation as a contractor, the pilot was not on one of its runs at the time.

Zip declined to comment.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it will investigate the crash as an accident.

“The recovery of a Bell helicopter that crashed in New York’s Hudson River Wednesday, revealed the helicopter was substantially damaged, as such, NTSB will investigate the event as an accident,” the agency said in a statement.

The crash-landing comes 14 months after a sightseeing helicopter from FlyNYON plummeted into the East River in March 2018, killing five passengers who were trapped into the sinking vessel — while the ­pilot scrambled to safety.

Additional reporting by Larry Celona and Stephanie Pagones

1 of 7
Helicopter crash landed into the Hudson River.
FDNY
Helicopter crash landed into the Hudson River.
WABC
Advertisement
Helicopter crash landed into the Hudson River.
WABC
Helicopter crash landed into the Hudson River.
Twitter/lewintech
Helicopter crash landed into the Hudson River.
WABC
Advertisement