NEW YORK CITY — A routine summer flight ended in a heart-stopping emergency on Sunday, July 5, 2026 after a seaplane carrying eight people made a violent hard landing, partially capsizing in the choppy waters just feet from a busy Manhattan transit hub.

The incident unfolded shortly after 12:00 PM near the Skyport Seaplane Terminal and Manhattan ferry landing along East 23rd Street and FDR Drive. Emergency sirens echoed across the waterfront as first responders raced to execute a dramatic rescue operation in plain view of stunned city commuters.

The aircraft, identified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a Kodiak 100 seaplane, had departed from East Hampton Airport earlier that morning. Passengers described the final moments of the flight as a normal approach that rapidly dissolved into chaos as the plane hit rough river conditions.

Audio captured from air traffic control revealed the pilot frantically issuing a "Mayday" distress call just before the aircraft slammed into the water. According to the FAA, the force of the impact caused one of the plane's wing struts to snap, forcing the aircraft to tilt dangerously and fill with water.

"The plane was already tilted. It was just insane. I thought we were going to go down and drown. I thought we weren't going to make it."— Khloe Todd, 16, Passenger on board

Bystanders and recreational boaters were the first to react. One nearby boater, Dan Thys, recounted seeing the aircraft abort its initial landing attempt before turning around to try again in the opposite direction amid very bouncy, rough water conditions. Thys and his wife rushed their vessel to the side of the listing plane to distribute life jackets just as a massive fleet of emergency responders arrived.

The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) deployed at least five rescue boats to the scene, working rapidly alongside NYPD harbor units to extract all eight occupants—including the two pilots—from the partially submerged cabin.

Miraculously, given the severity of the impact, everyone on board was safely evacuated to the docks. Officials confirmed that only two passengers suffered minor injuries and were evaluated by emergency medical staff at the scene, with at least one individual refusing further medical attention.

Following the successful evacuation, salvage crews managed to right the aircraft in the water and tow it back to the nearby dock. The FAA has launched a full investigation into the exact mechanics of the hard landing. The incident marks the second seaplane emergency in New York City waters in less than a month, following a similar water-landing rescue near Queens on June 13.