Four people, including the pilot, were pulled from the New York City's East River in the crash of a helicopter off the 34th Street Helipad on Tuesday in a dramatic, televised rescue operation. A fifth person, apparently trapped, was later found dead.

Rescuers search for the survivors of a helicopter crash on the East River in New York, the United States, Oct. 4, 2011. A helicopter on Tuesday crashed into East River in the U.S. city of New York with five passengers on board. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

A spokesman from the U.S. Federal Avaiation Administration (FAA) said that it was impossible to further identify the chopper without its tail number.

A Fire Department spokesman told Xinhua that three people were taken to nearby hospitals with serious injuries. A fourth person with minor injuries was treated at the scene.

The chopper overturned shortly after impact with survivors briefly clinging to its skids before it sank in murky waters of the river, just a few blocks south of United Nations headquarters in east mid-town Manhattan.

Video from WCBS-TV Chopper 2 showed some of the victims swimming or hanging on to life-preserver rings tied to ropes that had been tossed toward them and they were then pulled to safety.

The accident happened about 3:20 p.m. EDT (19:20GMT) and the water temperature was reported in the upper teens Celsius. It was not immediately determined whether the chopper was landing or taking off. The weather was good.

The fifth victim, a woman, was recovered more than an hour after the accident was first reported.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet