Journalist, tourists among dead in East River helicopter crash

Two tourists, a journalist and two helicopter employees died aboard a sightseeing chopper that crashed into the East River, police sources said Sunday.

All five passengers aboard the Liberty Helicopters chopper were killed in the crash. They were identified by a police source as Brian McDaniel, a firefighter from Dallas; Trevor Cadigan, a video journalist originally from Dallas; Carla Vallejos Blanco, a tourist from Argentina and two helicopter employees, Tristan Hill and Daniel Thompson.

Trevor Cadigan, 26, posts story to Instagram before the helicopter crashed in the East River. (TNCADIGAN VIA INSTAGRAM)

Only the pilot, Richard Vance, survived.

Jason McDaniel confirmed the awful accident had killed his 26-year-old brother.

“He loved his job, loved his friends and family and loved adventure,” Jason said of Brian McDaniel.

An Instagram video posted by Cadigan appeared to show him smiling as the helicopter took off from Kearny, New Jersey. Another passenger flashed a thumbs up.

Cadigan, also 26, had moved to the city in October and worked for Business Insider, according to his LinkedIn.

"I don’t even have any words right now," Cadigan's mom, Nancy Cadigan said while en route to the Medical Examiner's office.

The consulate of Argentina confirmed that Blanco, 29, was also on the helicopter, according to news outlets in the South American nation.

"I extend our condolences to the families of the five passengers who did not survive," NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said, adding that the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration had joined the investigation.

Carla Vallejos Blanco. (FACEBOOK)

Authorities trying to determine what caused the crash were examining the possibility that an emergency flotation device on the helicopter not properly deploy, causing it to to overturn, a police source said.

Video of the Sunday evening crash showed the chopper slowly crashing into the frigid river. Its rotors then whipped the water and it flipped over, leaving its skis in the air.

Twitter footage captured the moment the helicopter crashed. (JJ MAGERS / TWITTER)

A police source said the helicopter may have turned over because its left flotation device fully deployed but the right one did not.

ABC News reported that the pilot had told investigators that a passenger’s gear might have interfered with the chopper’s operation.

- ny news