- A Kodiak 100 seaplane carrying six passengers, a pilot, and one crew member made a hard crash landing in New York City's East River at approximately noon on July 5, 2026, while attempting to land at the Skyport terminal near East 23rd Street and FDR Drive in Manhattan.
- The plane bounced off the water three times before the wing strut on the left side snapped on the third impact, causing the aircraft to tilt sharply to the left and come to rest partially submerged. All eight people on board were rescued by the FDNY.
- A 16-year-old passenger named Khloe Todd was filming video from inside the plane when it crashed — her footage captures the cockpit alarms sounding and passengers gasping as the pilot declares mayday over the radio.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Just over three months after a Syracuse father was sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing his own son and girlfriend, New York is back in the headlines again — this time with a story that, despite everything that went wrong, everyone walked away from alive. A seaplane carrying eight people crashed into the East River on Sunday afternoon on its way back from the Hamptons, and a teenager filming from her seat inside the plane captured the whole terrifying moment on video.
A Day Trip from the Hamptons That Ended in the River
The Kodiak 100 seaplane took off from East Hampton Airport on Long Island at 11:24 a.m. on Sunday, July 5 — carrying six passengers and two crew members on what was meant to be a short flight back to Manhattan. Among the passengers were 16-year-old Khloe Todd and her grandmother, Ada Todd, 75. The pair had been in the Hamptons celebrating the birthday of one of Ada's friends.
The flight tracked west across Long Island and began its descent along the East River, heading toward the NY Skyport — a seaplane terminal located at East 23rd Street and FDR Drive, and the only seaplane terminal in all of New York City.
The landing never went according to plan.
Three Bounces. One Snap. Then Silence.
At approximately noon, the seaplane came down on the surface of the East River. It hit the water once. Then a second time. Then a third.
On that third impact, the strut holding up the left float of the aircraft — the structural support that keeps the plane balanced and stable on the water — snapped. The plane lurched sharply to the left, the wing dipping toward the river's surface, and the aircraft decelerated hard, throwing up a large wall of water before coming to a stop tilted to one side with the left wing partially submerged.
Passengers described hearing a loud bang and then being thrown around inside the cabin as the aircraft struck the water. Inside the plane, cockpit warnings were going off. The pilot got on the radio.
"Mayday, mayday, mayday," he said.
A nearby NYPD helicopter picked up the transmission and immediately had the aircraft in sight. "It looks like the pilot is OK," the NYPD pilot radioed to other responders. Another voice came back immediately: "There are passengers on board."
The Video From Inside
Khloe Todd had her phone out while the plane came in for landing. The footage she captured shows exactly what those final seconds felt like from the inside. The plane hits the water. Once, twice, three times. With each impact the aircraft jolts harder. Then the tilt — sudden and steep — and the alarms fill the cabin. Passengers gasp. The pilot's voice comes over the radio declaring the mayday. The plane shudders to a stop.
Khloe told CBS News afterward: "The plane was already tilted. It was just insane. I thought we were going to go down and drown."
Her grandmother Ada did not escape without injury. "She's really not feeling well — her ribs, her back, her head. It's all swollen," Khloe said. "It's all really bad so we might end up going to the hospital tonight."
Everyone Out. Investigation Open.
The FDNY received the call at 12:01 p.m. Marine units and rescue boats converged on the scene north of the Williamsburg Bridge. All eight people on board were removed from the aircraft. Two passengers sustained minor injuries but declined to be transported to the hospital at the scene. The plane itself was eventually righted and towed back to the dock.
The FAA confirmed that it will investigate the incident. In an official statement, the agency said the pilot of the Kodiak 100 made a hard landing in the East River at approximately noon on July 5, causing the wing strut to snap. A preliminary accident report is expected to be released within the week.
This was not the first time a seaplane has gone down in New York City's waterways this year. On June 13 — less than three weeks before this crash — a separate seaplane went down near Whitestone in Queens. The pilot and one passenger were both rescued from that incident as well.
What exactly caused the Kodiak 100 to bounce and lose structural integrity on landing has not yet been determined. The choppy conditions on the river, the approach angle, and any mechanical factors will all be part of the FAA's investigation.
For Khloe Todd and the seven others who walked away from the East River on Sunday afternoon, the answers can wait. Getting out of that tilted, half-submerged plane alive was enough for one day.
To view more cases of harrowing accidents and survival stories, check out our video here:
