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Helicopter crashes into Hudson River near Manhattan, pilot survives

A Blade helicopter dubbed as the "Uber of helicopters" crashed near the Lincoln Tunnel at 2:30 p.m. ET

A helicopter crashed in the Hudson River May 15 and the pilot survived. The pilot, who was the only person on board, was pulled from the river near the Lincoln Tunnel by the New York Police Department's Aviation and Harbor unit.

The pilot is expected to be alright, CNN reported. He refused treatment from emergency responders, as did a worker on land who was hit by debris, a fire department source told the publication. Ashton Byrd captured the helicopter crash on his cellphone and the footage shows the aircraft descending toward the water right after a major disbalance with its rotors moving. 

The helicopter was a commuter chopper run by Blade, also known as the Uber for helicopters. A representative for Blade, which operates charters to the Hamptons, Nantucket, and other destinations told the New York Post; "A pilot made an emergency landing on floats on the river. No passengers were on board."

Simon Mclaren, a representative of Blade, exclusively reached out to MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) and said: "Earlier today, a helicopter made a safe emergency landing on floats in the Hudson River near the heliport. There were no passengers on board. The pilot was not injured and immediately exited the aircraft."

He stated that the helicopter was being repositioned to the West Side Heliport for fueling by the operator, Zip Aviation, and was not servicing a Blade mission. "Because there were no injuries, the incident is being treated as an emergency landing and NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) will not be investigating. All Blade services are operating normally," he concluded.

Blade has come under fire from East Hampton residents who say the company runs too many flights. Last year, a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the East River, killing all five passengers, while the pilot escaped.

The New York Police tweeted that the craft "fell short of a landing pad on West 30th street and Hudson River," and "the pilot is out of the water and the helicopter is secured." The helicopter was a Bell 206, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said. The crashed occurred about 2:30 p.m. ET, he added.