NEW YORK, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Nine people were killed Saturday when a sightseeing helicopter and a small plane collided and fell into the Hudson River off New York, authorities said.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there was no hope anyone survived, The New York Times reported.
"This is not going to have a happy ending," he said.
The crash killed the pilot and five Italian tourists aboard the Liberty Helicopter Tours helicopter. The single-engine Piper PA-32R plane carried the pilot, a Pennsylvania man, his brother and his nephew.
The crash occurred at noon between 14th Street in Manhattan and Hoboken, N.J. On a hot summer day, thousands of people heard and saw the crash from both sides of the river.
"Both appeared to be heading south, and the plane rolled into the side of the helicopter," said Colin Rich of Brooklyn, who saw the collision from the Manhattan shoreline.
"Right before that, it appeared very suspect because I saw them getting so close to each other."
The aircraft were less than 1,000 feet up, in airspace where pilots operate under visual flight rules without keeping in touch with air traffic control, The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., said.
The small plane was owned by Steven Altman of Ambler, Pa., police said. His wife told the Times he was flying his brother, Daniel, and nephew, Bret, from Teterboro in northern New Jersey to Ocean City.
By the time the search was suspended at nightfall, police had located the remains of the helicopter and three bodies.
