A dramatic midday emergency unfolded off Manhattan’s East 23rd Street Marina on Tuesday, when a Kodiak 100 seaplane suffered a catastrophic hard landing on New York City’s East River, triggering a rapid emergency response that saved all eight people on board. Local emergency officials confirmed that first responders from the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) were dispatched to the crash site shortly after 12 p.m. local time — 16:00 GMT — following initial 911 reports of an aircraft down in the water.
Upon arrival, first responders found the seaplane remained afloat and upright, allowing emergency teams to safely evacuate all eight occupants. Of those on board, two individuals sustained minor non-life-threatening injuries but declined to seek on-site or hospital medical care, according to FDNY updates. After the evacuation, the intact aircraft was towed back to a nearby dock for preservation ahead of an official probe.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is leading the official investigation into the incident, confirmed that the emergency stemmed from a hard landing that generated enough force to snap a key wing strut on the aircraft. A hard landing, defined as a touchdown that exceeds an aircraft manufacturer’s approved vertical speed and impact limits, can cause critical structural damage even when the craft remains afloat.
Multiple on-scene and preliminary accounts have added further context to the incident: the New York Times reported the aircraft was traveling from the Hamptons, a popular summer seaside getaway for wealthy New York residents, en route to a local Manhattan seaplane base when it hit a sudden large wave during landing attempts. The impact caused the seaplane to partially capsize before it stabilized in an upright position. The FAA also noted in a social media statement that air traffic control was not providing active services to the aircraft at the time of the landing.
Notably, this incident marks the second seaplane emergency on the East River in just three weeks. On June 13, a small two-seater seaplane suffered damage when it was hit by a large wave during takeoff near Queens, CBS News previously reported. In that earlier incident, FDNY emergency teams safely rescued the pilot and single passenger from the downed craft via boat, with no reported fatalities or critical injuries in that event either.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the FAA has launched a full review to identify root causes of the hard landing, with investigators set to examine structural data from the seaplane, weather and wave conditions at the time of landing, and the pilot’s actions leading up to the incident.