Seaplane lands in New York City’s East River with only minor injuries reported

Seaplane carrying eight people made ‘hard landing’ and was towed back to dock, according to the fire department

A seaplane made a rough landing in New York City ’s East River on Sunday, alarming bystanders and resulting in two minor injuries, according to city authorities.

The seaplane carrying eight people made a “hard landing” at about noon, according to the New York City fire department. The plane made it upright and was towed back to dock, the department said.

Images shared on social media show a white plane appearing to lean over on its side with the tip of its left wing in the water as a helicopter circled overhead.

The local news outlet WABC reported two of the plane’s passengers received treatment for minor injuries.

One of those passengers, 75-year-old Ada Todd, reportedly told the outlet from the hospital that she remained “in shock, in lots of pain, but happy to be alive”.

A statement on X from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the seaplane involved in Sunday’s hard landing was a Kodiak 100. The hard landing by its pilot caused “a swing strut to snap”, and “air traffic control was not providing services to the aircraft”, the FAA said.

CBS News, meanwhile, published a video from a 16-year-old passenger on the seaplane that captured the moment the aircraft slammed into the river. The teen was reportedly traveling with her grandmother.

CBS also published the recording of a radio transmission from when a New York police helicopter responded to the rough landing in the river.

“Mayday, mayday, mayday – we have a plane down on the water,” the pilot can be heard saying in the recording. “We have a plane down on the water.”

The FAA said that it is investigating the case.

WABC alluded to reports that the seaplane was coming from the Long Island town of East Hampton.