>> rick: 3:00 in new york city and we are through hours into a disaster over the hudson river. there was only seven months ago we were talking about a miracle. that is not the case today after a midair collision in the skies between new york city and hoboken, new jersey, a sightseeing helicopter by liberty tours colliding with a small plane right over the skies just before noontime. there is one person confirmed dead and there is perhaps eight more people who are being searched for right now by those rescue boats. you can see on the ground, the new york city fire department, new york city police department. the coastguard. even sightseeing ship operators involved right now in the search for any survivors, a little at this point now, three hours after the collision.

it does not look good for any one having survived this crash. i am in new york city along with gregg jarrett as we continue to follow this breaking story in new york. in the lower right hand corner of the screen you can see microphones and the podium. we are waiting to hear from michael bloomberg who will be stepping up to the microphone. he doesn't like to hold press conferences until he has concrete information. the information seems to be all over the map. at first we heard one person had been rescued from the scene but now we're getting reports that nobody has successfully been rescued. we're getting confirmation one person having died. we're waiting to hear from mayor bloomberg. perhaps he is giving instructions on when they will begin the press conference. we'll bring you live remarks as soon as they begin. my colleague jon scott has been

following this story. jon is a news anchor a pilot, veteran pilot and a fright person. you said very early on you would have been surprised if we gotten any reports of being rescued from the scene. sadly, it appears to be the case. >> sure, if they have an engine failure in mid flight they are capable of coming down and making a landing without injury, without incident. but when you have the airframes compromised so badly, it's highly unlikely that either of one of these aircraft would be able to hit the water --. >> rick: that is mike bloomberg the mayor of new york getting ready to address reporters. >> i'm sad to reported around

1:00 this afternoon there was an accident that we don't believe was survivable between an airplane and the helicopter. the helicopter was a sightseeing helicopter and a-350 and they think the airplane was a piper saratoga. it took off and had on board a pilot and two passengers, one a child. we do not have the names or ages or where they come from. on the helicopter there were five italian tourists and a pilot. we had at this point found two bodies. we're not sure where one of them came from. the other one rear really sure came from the helicopter. we found some wreckage. we believe it's the helicopter but the visibility is about two feet. it's a depth of 30 feet on the

jersey side of the river roughly on the side of 14th street. we've not found the second piece of wreckage. we are assuming that we have the helicopter but i cannot for sure say this. in which case we're looking for the airplane or vice versa. with me is the police commissioner, ray kelly, office of personnel of the emergency management and chief of the nypd and deputy assistant chief of the fdny and chief of enf and scott springer and also representatives from the national transportation safety board which will do the complete investigation. we of the coastguard on board and we have representatives from the port authority, harbor police and state police. over on the jersey side, jersey state police and local police

forces there. what we can tell is the plane left, helicopter had just taken off from west 30th street. there were a number of eyewitnesses who saw the crash. it would appear the airplane ran into the back side of the helicopter. keep in mind with all of these things, number one, until the national transportation safety board makes a determination, nothing is a fact. it can take them many weeks or even years to determine what goes on. this probably won't be that big of an investigation, but they will do a complete investigation before they announce their conclusions as to what happened and whether there are any steps that can be taken to improve safety and to prevent similar tragedies such as this. the police department has sent some of the community affairs in

and mayor's office community affairs are with both the families of the italian tourists who had taken off from 30th street and providing counseling. i gather they don't speak english and we have italian speakers and we have professionals who have to learn how to deal with tragedy and help the families get through this difficult period. i might point out the red cross is here providing the kind of assistance that we need, both the fire department and the divers and everything is being done. it's fair to say it's changed from a rescue to a recovery mission. that probably was what we could have started out with the instant it happened. there is some evidence from the eyewitnesses that one of the wings of the airplane was severed or separated, probably severed by the rotors of the helicopter.

we won't know until the n.t.s.b. does their investigation. we will over the next hours remove the bodies from the helicopter or the airplane that we found. at this point our time out is focus making sure that our divers are safe. we don't want them to make had this tragedy any worse than it's already been. we will continue looking for the other aircraft whichever one it is. that is not a lot else to say. i'd be happy to take questions. nobody knows what i just said. if you want to ask about more, you are going to get the aim answer. this air space, how aircraft how they navigated. >> there is a corridor here where aircraft can fly uncontrolled by aircraft control. there is a common frequency used on the hudson river, a separate

one for the east river. pilots that fly in this area all the time pretty much always use those frequencies to announce where they are and to listen to find out where other people are. when they are going by 34th street or 30th street on the west side or wall street, helicopters can land. helicopter pilots pretty much always describe where they are, what altitude and which direction they are going to ensure separation. that is probably not anywhere near as true with airplanes that fly through the area not very frequently. there is no requirement that they do that, although common sense and the maps show what those frequencies are. >> is there any indication the plane was flying too low or why it would be flying so low? >> we don't know what altitude. the corridor is probably a thousand on feet or below. helicopters can go all the way down to the water because they

have to land on the pier. there is a maximum altitude restrictions. minimums tend to be staying away from the sides of buildings but nobody focuses on that. the reason for the maximum altitude that they stay away from commercial aircraft that fly higher than that and never be cleared lower than this. typically a commercial plane going up the river would be cleared to go at 5,000 feet, 1,000 feet being the maximum. >> what can you tell us how the bodies are recovered or the bodies that have been recovered? >> i cannot do that. one is we believe was floating free and the other one, the divers have recovered but as you might imagine the divers are more worried about doing their job and making sure each other is safe rather than giving us a blow-by-blow. there some bodies in the wreckage we found in the

aircraft, whether it's an airplane or helicopter. we believe it's the helicopter but we're not hundred percent sure. they are studying how to get them out safely and eventually the wreckage will be picked up. first thing we're trying to do is get the bodies out. our preparation have to go out to the families. its tragedy, other than flight 587, this is the largest air accident resulting in deaths in the new york area in modern day. [ inaudible ] >> there is no indication that anybody had any problems. one person said he saw the airplane and he grabbed his microphone and he tried to tell the helicopter but whether the pilot heard it and whether it

was on the right frequently si. it could have been an optical illusion and it was not an optical illusion. it's a busy area and generally pilots are well-trained and they have plenty of experience flying in there. when the roads are crowded you want to pay attention and pilots tip i kli do. what exactly happened and until the n.t.s.b. issues their report. yes, sir. it's all underwater. they can see two or three feet maximum. they can't tell anything we have no idea where the current might have taken them. we have found one piece of wreckage. whether they have looked two or three feet in direction from that. i don't know. this is a dangerous area where the currents are running.

it's 30 feet under the water and the visibility is terrible. their first instructions are do not compound this tragedy. recovery is certainly not worth jeopardizing people's lives. rescue maybe, but not recovery. [ inaudible ] >> the helicopter had taken off from west 30th heliport directly perpendicular out over the river which is their pro stows make sure if they see any traffic going north or south on the river. that is confirmed by the other pilot that was sitting on the heliport on 30th street. he says the plane was coming from a little bit from the northwest which would be from the cedar borrow airport. whether it was in the process of banking and turning south toward the statue of liberty. they would not be allowed and

probably would have known from a map they could not go over manhattan. there is this corridor down over the river, so yes. the helicopter had turned south when the plane came, but it first came out and turned south and it was climbing and probably between 500 and thousand feet. they'll try to establish that later on. i'll take two more questions. [ inaudible ] >> normally, there is no requirement they communicate at all and it's not positively controlled airspace. there is a common frequency you can voluntarily use to announce where you are going and listen to other pilots doing the same thing. as far as we know, helicopter pilots almost always do this and we assume the pilot took off but he may have taken off and not bothered until he got

established. we don't know the airplane was listening on that frequency. we'll take the last question. >> how challenging do you know this airspace to be to fly? what would you say if there were calls on the east side incident for more restrictions? >> that is up to the faa to determine. it may would be one of those things that no amount of restriction could have prevented. that is something that people don't want either. we have commercial interests that transportation can come and go. we have number of airports, there is causewell, newark. on the other side of the river you've got la guardia and kennedy and further out republic and westchester. it's a busy area as any big city would be. there is traffic coming in and all all the time. for commercial aircraft there is a lot of positive control.

i will say my experience with the faa controllers in this area they are the most professional i've ever had the privilege of working with. they handle an enormous amount of traffic. there are areas that are not positive controlled. this could have happened over a cornfield or over the east river i think it's like any place traffic that is not positively controlled. it's not that anybody did anything right or wrong but the only definitive answers to your questions when come from the national transportation safety board. that is why air transportation is so safe. they very carefully work to establish with a lot of investigation what exactly went on. they will do every kind of test and every kind of analysis that you you can conceive it. when they get ready to issue their report they will. let me finish by saying it's a

great tragedy. all the people of new york and new york region have their prayers with the families and the deceased. think you saw a stellar example of the kind of cooperation two big agencies, but also port authority and new jersey and new york state and volunteer organizations all working together. sadly, there is not a lot of rescue to do here. it's all recovery from this point on. later on we'll make sure that the presses is informed of when the bodies are recovered and when we can release identification and the aircraft wreckage will be recovered in the river. i think any speculation after this is just not based on any

facts. i would urge you to wait until a professionals do what they are supposed to do. if you look at other places, the first reports tend not to be terribly accurate. you saw that in a number of commercial airplane accidents recently. i don't want that to happen here. we have done everything here. we responded in exactly the way of our planning in the office of emergency management pulling it altogether. all the training of the police department and fire department do together, they responded quickly. if it was possible, if anybody had survived we would have been there. sadly it appears to us at this point that this was probably not survivable from virtually the instance a few seconds later from both aircraft when they went into the water. i'm sorry to have to report to the public another tragedy. this is not going to have an happy ending like when the airbus went down in the river

where everybody survived. in this case we believe nobody has. thank you very much. >> rick: so the mayor of new york city michael bloomberg confirming the 'worst fears. this is a tragedy, he said that twice -- a tragedy on the hudson. nine people dead between a sightseeing helicopter carrying five italian tourists and a pilot. it collided in midair over the hudson river with a piper saratoga a fixed light wing plane. three people on board including a child. two bodies have been recovered which means nine deaths in all. there are still seven bodies that the searchers are looking for. at you can see on the left-hand side of your screen they have been doing that for the better part of the last three hours and 18 minutes since noontime.

tom ruskin joins us, tom, what was important in the mayor's initial words, he said the plane ran into the back side of the chopper. from an investigative standpoint talk to us where it goes from there? >> what is happening now, they are trying to secure whatever wreckage they have the mayor seemed to indicate it was a helicopter. so what they want to do is the divers want to secure that wreckage so it doesn't move down the hudson with the very strong currents that were shown during the u.s. air crash where the plane moved from up the river, down the river very quickly. they are trying to secure the wreckage. what they are trying to do is the diers have to take different teams in the water for two reasons. one, for the safety of the divers and the chance that the scuba diver could get the bends. i did notice in your shots

during the press conference that the looked like the office of emergency management with the police department were moving a tug with a winch in place near the police boats trying to secure this wreckage, to keep it moving from down river, two, to possibly bring up to less of a depth to allow the divers to get into the wreckage to bring the bodies out of that wreckage. >> rick: the challenge is not just the chill of the water and the swift current. it is really treacherous out there. visibility was described by the mayor as two to three feet. which actually surprised me. my guess is, after spending time on the hudson and being a scuba diver myself, this is zero visibility river. i've been in some rivers and lakes i can't even see the hand in front of my face. it's almost like trying to find

a needle in a haystack? >> that is exactly right. that is the trouble with the wreckage or debris field that may exist and the police department over the years has very sophisticated sonar equipment for just this purpose in finding wreckage such as this. that is what they are probably doing at this point in time. other than the ones we're seeing. >> rick: i was interested to hear the mayor say if there were going to be changes to the rules about air traffic in this particular corridor which is so busy, that those will be changes that will have to be made by the faa. federal government would have to get involved. is it time for the government of new york city, new york state say hey, something needs to be done here. as much as we want to promote

commercial traffic, it's just too busy here? >> the problem is that the city government and muip government has a say, but ultimately it's the faa. part of what the faa looks at is what the n.t.s.b. that will investigate this accident comes back with. now, remember as you and jamie talked about this before, was the different accidents that have happened. the one on the east river 'where he turned too close and hit a building on the east side. so it's all things that the faza looks at but as someone reported earlier, n.t.s.b. will now what they call a go team, coming from washington probably on a plane right now. they will be en route to started the investigation and review the debris as it's pulled out of the hudson river. >> chris: top right box there is

a picture of a helicopter like the one involved in the crash today. in the bottom right box is a picture of a small plane like the one, the piper that was involved in the crash today. on the language in the larger box, live pictures as we see the office of emergency management crews in the tugboats in the water and some in smaller rafts along the right-hand side of the screen. as they continue to just move around that debris field. tom, i'm wondering if you have any idea how long they might wait? it not like the vision built is going to get any better and yet there is seven bodies submerged. and a few bodies they have been able to locate, but these people are still strapped into their seats board that chopper? >> good news about that even though it is a very gruesome

thought to think about that, the bodies are not going to be moved by the strong currents out of the cockpit or the wreckage. what they look to do for the safety of the divers, police department boats that we're seeing there, the blue boats are the police department boats. what they'll do, as i said, is secure the wreckage, take a very slow way and they prefer to do it sooner rather than later because within the next four or five hours we are facing a nighttime condition. >> rick: tom, stand oh by for just a moment. we have a picture of the splash down. if you can tell me where this came from. especially somebody was able to snap a photograph of the two aircraft hitting the water at least a splash down. threw can see some of the water

spray shooting upward. this must have been taken almost instantaneously when one of the aircraft hit the water. >> it looks like it was taken from the jersey side. the buildings and west side highway of new york city. this crash we're told took place around 14th street after the chopper took off from 30th 30th street would which would be under a mile north. this is an amazing picture. we remember gregg after the miracle on the hudson when 1549 was able to land, it wasn't too long until we saw surveillance videotape of that plane landing. this is the way we live in. people have cameras on their telephones and surveillance cameras that capture videotape 24/7. so i'm sure as date progresses into tonight we'll see more images of this.

it is chilling to see that picture and to know exactly what happened. >> gregg: it was beautiful day. it was around noontime. people were enjoying the sun and people out on the water and both banks of the hudson river. new york and new jersey side. a great many people were taking pictures. suddenly they hear a bang in the air and they have their camera ready. they see a horrific, as the mayor called it, not survivable midair collision and they snap away. my guess is, we may see more pictures just like that. in fact you might see blown up pictures, somebody may have caught it while shooting something else. nine people are dead including one child. two bodies have been recovered and one piece of the wreckage between the chopper and

helicopter. we've got live coverage. we're going stick with. this we have additional information to share with you. we'll be right back after this quick break. to stay on top of my game after 50, i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day men's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for heart health. that's a great call. one a day men's.

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>> rick: fox news alert. 3:30 in new york city on a tragic saturday afternoon, two helicopters a helicopter and small plane collided.

it was almost the same spot that the u.s. air flight 1549 made a safe water landing back in january. today unfortunately not a happy story. it does appear there are nine people who have died in this collision. no survivors. laura ingle has been following this story. she went over to the new jersey side in hoboken which is closest to where the collision took place. you are on the phone right now. i understand you have fo new information. >> we do. we are witnessing as you are seeing all the different rescue craft in the hudson river. we have been watching this for several hours. you see the blue boats and red bolts with the fire department and the gray boats are the new jersey state police. we've been watching these motorized rafts go back and forth with scuba divers between

boats and the shore. in just the last few seconds, we saw one of these rafts pull up to another raft holding what can only be described as a rescue basket, a stretcher. we are seeing it go into the water. they are working and back in the boat now. i'm not sure what that means. we can assume it's possible bli the remains of the one of the victims or something of significance as far as evidence is concerned and the wreckage of one of these two craft. you heard live here on fox mayor john zimmer talk to us. the entire waterfront area was turned into a command center. we had members of variety of different agencies here talking to each other, trying to get their game plan. police, new jersey state police and governor corzine ending up

his support from this side. unfortunately, as we've been reporting and as you before hearing from the officials, it does appear to be a recovery mission at this point. we have been talking to witnesses all up and down this part of the waterfront. a lot of them really only describe seeing the helicopter and seeing the blazing down. i do have one gentleman here who was nearby. his name is rick and he was over near the university. you were the only person that i have talked to who may have seen a part of that airplane. what did you see? >> we were walking back from the pizza shop on the had you had sow river. we looked up after i heard a loud noise, i saw the helicopter body coming down 45 degree angle but no rotors turning around. i said -- oh, shoot. by the time i got here a minute later there was city stil a lot

of litter floating around and there was no evidence of survivors. >> you saw the back part? >> there was something going off on the left. we are visiting and she actually saw the plane. if you want to ask melissa right here. >> my proush is writing me a note it does appear to be some type of recovery happening right now. as we described that basket going into the water. we have a shop lens on our camera on the shore. we're zooming in and trying to see what is happening in those rafts with the divers. it does appear that some type of recovery is happening. as soon as we get word on that we'll let you know what is going on. back to you. >> rick: all right. laura. this is laura's camera that is providing the pictures for us.

we did see the raft pull up alongside the nypd boat and deliver something to them. it did not look like one of victims, perhaps it was a piece of wreckage that they were able to find. >> gregg: it may have been but they took the body basket, if you will, back out on the smaller boat on a single-engine in a coordinated effort. they are searching for more bodies. whether they have located two or, indeed, three -- nine people in all have died in this horrific made air collision over the hudson which also scattered debris, not just in the river but on to the hoboken waterfront. it happened around noon shortly thereafter. five italian tourists aboard the chopper and pilot, all died. and three people were on the piper saratoga. you see the about the right-hand side of the screen.

light fixed wing. three people tragically including a child. what was interesting -- let's go to bob tour who is a veteran fixed wing pilot. he joins us once again on the telephone. what was interesting about the mayor's remarks, he said the plane ran into the back side of the chopper. so explain what that means to you. >> that is what we thought earlier on. what it means is that the faster fixed wing aircraft overtook the slower helicopter and ran in to it like a rear-end collision. in the process struck the helicopter with its wing and taking out the main rotar -- rotor blades and causing the three blades to fly away from the aircraft that caused the

helicopter to crash. the fixed wing losing lift because it doesn't have the wing causing it to crash as well. what we're talking about, clearly the fixed wing pilot was not watching where he was going and ran in to, slammed in to a helicopter. these guys aboard the helicopter. pilot and passengers never knew what hit them. >> gregg: you invite the question why didn't the pilot of the fixed wing plane dhq is going faster than a chopper see what was in front of him. a logical and reasonable explanation that i can think of is perhaps the fixed wing plane, saratoga was gaining altitude rather quickly and came up underneath the chopper and just didn't see it by virtue of the roof of his plane or just the opposite. was losing altitude and didn't see what was beneath him so quickly?

>> that could be the case. it was interesting. the mayor said that clearly this was another tour operation. it was fixed wing pilot chasing a group of italians on a tour of the same airspace. that can be dangerous, especially when you have two tour aircraft, a helicopter and a fixed wing mixing in the same air space. to get a better view in a fixed wing aircraft they want to perhaps fly lower and get in the same airspace that helicopters use. that is a dangerous mix. helicopters should fly lower and airplanes should fly higher. >> why isn't there a rule that fixed wings should fly with a particular altitude with a limit below, basement altitude. then, of course, choppers below that? >> you'll see some changes done by the federal aviation administration. they will ask for a public opinion period where they'll get

opinions from the various members of the public, the flying public and come up with some new rules. there should be. airplanes do not mix well with helicopters. they fly slower and sometimes they hover and make turns very quickly. fixed wings don't do that. there should be a restriction separating the aircraft. the corridor is mainly designed not for sight seeing but really designed to get aircraft from one class "b" airspace to another. one airplane draft airport traffic space to another. it takes the burden off the faa from having thousands of thousands more of these vfr flights. so they create these vfr corridors. most of the time they are extraordinarily safe but like

today, accidents happen. >> rick: i'm struck ability idea it would be a burden on the faa to control all these aircraft in what is such a heavily traveled area. i think it's exactly the opposite. they would want to have control over every single aircraft, especially such an area as heavily traveled as this? >> the vast majority of the united states is uncontrolled, unless you are flying at very high attitudes. commercial airliners and private jets, civilian aircraft flying at certain attitudes, they may be under control but the vast majority of these general aviation flights are done via far. we're talking about millions of flight hours without accidents. here we have neoshg city, highly congested airspace and a very busy corridor.

maybe they should start controlling this air space. however, you have budget krolts, budget cuts, it's very difficult to bring -- the faa right now has difficulty recruiting air traffic controlers. when they do find them, it takes a lot of training and get them up to speed. good news is there is a new computer satellite program going into effect that should be fully implemented within the next two to three years, using satellite transponders, all aircraft can be monitored and there could be a computer avoidance system in place that could possibly prevent these types of accidents >> rick: stick around if you would. i hate to inject politics. we have to mention this is an election year. mike bloomberg is up for re-election. jon corzine is up for re-election and i would not be surprised if it becomes a

campaign issue if these two elections. >> gregg: it might be. you pick off on something that i noticed in the news conference by the mayor. he seemed to be angry but a little frustrated that the rules either weren't be followed or aren't better rules to control situations just like this which bob tour has been describing between fixed wing and helicopter in a very special area that everybody wants to fly in. the chopper pilots wanted to take their tourists. this was a sightseeing venture. there is a great many helicopters sightseeing groups that operate around the hudson and east river. last time i was out on the hudson was with julie banderas on her boat and i was really stunned as i looked up into the air and so so much aircraft traffic. i thought to myself, after the tragedy involving the pitcher of the new york yankees, cory

lidle. it's too narrow of an airspace. the tragedy has occurred today. >> on the left-hand side of the screen it's the recovery efforts not the rescue efforts. the crash, collision between the sightseeing chopper and small plane, not survive amp amp the words of mayor mike bloomberg. hour coverage continues when fox news channel returns. kelly saunder's nature valley, the place that inspires her to go faster... and slower,

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tragedies such as this. >> gregg: a tragedy on the hudson. no miracle today. as a small plane in a tour helicopter collided and fell into hudson river and on to the new jersey waterfront. authorities now have confirmed that all people on board, nine of them including a child were killed. i'm gregg jarrett along with rick and we've been following it. there is the splash-down picture who was camera ready and able to snap it. at least two or one of them -- we have no idea -- hit the water and caused the splash upwards as you can see it. let's go to bob tour who a fixed wing expert and pilot. you have been talking about, visual flight rules in the corridor, but it's common practice that pilot maintain air

to air frequency on a common frequency. is that a mandatory, however, and if it isn't, should it be? >> i think it should be mandatory. unfortunately it's not. it's not very well regulated. there is a common air to air frequency. you are encouraged to use it. the vfr corridor there is a settle of procedures you put into place. you make sure you have the proper charts. you are required to know the airspace. you are required to know what the reporting points are. unfortunately you are not required to talk to air to air frequency but not required to do that, altitude and direction and that sort of information. >> gregg: as we mentioned the mayor pointed out the plane ran into the back side of the chopper. i and i have talked about that the plane was either moving upwards in altitude or lower in

altitude and didn't see what it was above or below as it was gaining on the chopper. that would suggest to me -- i'm no expert, that suggests to me that perhaps the pilot wasn't on a common air to air frequency in which case he would have heard that the chopper was nearby. why wouldn't somebody be on an air on air frequency. why in the world wouldn't they do it? >> it's a tour aircraft and both were tour aircraft. frequently when you have a tour pilot he is explaining what is outside. he is explaining there the statue of liberty. there the hudson river. there is manhattan. he is creating to his passengers what is going on. he is giving a tour. unfortunately he is flying an aircraft and sometimes the two don't mix very well. >> rick: i'm just wondering if

the helicopter just taken off and going straight up from the pad or was the beginning of its assent. all of a sudden there was communication from the pilot of this small plane, how much time would it have taken the chopper pilot who has nor maneuver ability to gone higher or lower to get out of the way? >> it could be instantaneous. you can lose several hundred feet in just a matter of a few seconds. it's highly maneuverable. helicopter can almost roll to get out of the way. unfortunately, you have to have really good information. the best information is visual information, the things that you see. just because somebody reports that they are 500 feet, same altitude you are at and same location doesn't necessarily tell if you behind you, above you, below you or in front of

you. you have to really keep your eyes open tualtsz. you have to be highly vigilant. >> rick: one more question before we say goodbye. forgive me if it sounds like a silly question but are there rearview mirrors in a chopper? >> no, notices at silly questions they use those for lifting loads but no. i thought it may be a good idea. >> rick: bob, thanks very much. great insight and we may be calling you once again in a few minutes. >> gregg: let me add, bob tour is a legend in aircraft, especially in southern california and has written books. it's always great to have him. unfortunately it's always on an occasion like this where there is a collision.

midair and not survivable, said mayor bloomberg. i'm reading from the associated press which has a few more details. two bodies recovered in the water, one floating free, one in the wreckage. other bodies spotted in the debris. the crash victims as we've been mentioning included five the italian tourists and three people on board the plane and pilot on the chopper including a child on board the plane. the rescue was over almost immediately the. it became a recovery effort. three bodies apparently recovered now. at least two bodies recovered, we suspect a third. liberty tour company the operator of this sightseeing chopper -- it sounds right now as though it was the small plane that could have been responsible

for this collision. i can't stress enough how early it is. >> gregg: let's put that question to a witness who joins us on the telephone. buzz nagags, buzz, thank you for taking a few moments. what did you see? >> first of all, good afternoon. i was walking down the street with my girlfriend. we were probably two blocks north of the collision. what happened is we were approaching a couple on the street that was walking towards us. i saw a girl stop in their tracks and i heard her say -- oh my god. we turned around and just as i turned around i saw the plane and helicopter crash. >> gregg: the mayor has said that the plane ran into the back side of the chopper. did you see that? >> i'll be honest with you. i did not because what i saw was the second i turned around is when the collision happened.

from there i saw the plane, one of the wings of the plane go flying about hundred feet east toward hoboken. the plane just started to funnel down towards the water while the helicopter, it said up for about a second, it just immediately dropped like a rock. it dropped very quickly. >> rick: you are giving us a description a lot of eyewitnesses are giving. some are saying the helicopter broke up into pieces. did you see that? >> from bay saw, the helicopter looked intact. i did not see any -- i saw of the people saying that the helicopter broke up into pieces. i did not see that. i saw the helicopter intact and i said to myself, these people may have a chance, they'll fall in the water and be okay. i did not see. there was no fire, no explosion. the helicopter dropped very quickly into the water. that was my only concern.

as far as the plane is concerned i did see the plane falling out of the sky but it was fluttering in a circular motion. >> gregg: did you run to the waterfront? if you didn't, what did you see? >> my girlfriend and i did run to the water front. we were about three blocks forth of the accident. so we did run up to the water. we saw is nothing. everything seemed to have sank very quickly. there were boats on hand. there was a new york water way boat. there was police boat. there were many boats, they were pointing in the water, it landed right there. we were calling 911 at the time. so i was stopped in my tracks. i was kind of in shock what really just happened. >> rick: you live in hoboken? >> my name is buzz. i alive right on the water.

>> rick: you must see a lot of these sightseeing tours buzzing by your waterfront on a regular basis. would you be surprised to know, as we're learning today that there really isn't any requirement for the pilots of those planes to be in touch with any kind of federal authority or air traffic control, they are just flying around? >> honestly it does surprise me. it's amazing. i'll go out on my balcony when i come home from work, i'll see all the planes and helicopters. there is so much activity going on. i am surprised. i'm surprised there is no controls over the situation. i'm not surprised there was an accident because i do see a lot of near misses regularly. >> rick: buzz, we appreciate you joining us today. buzz who was walking in hoboken with his girlfriend and actually turned around in time to see the collision in the sky. we were mentioning liberty

tours. they do have a history, gregg, of some problems. first of all we should mention people that get on liberty tour chopper pays from anywhere $130 to thousand dollars. this is not a cheap thing to do. it's kind of an expensive excursion but there are a number of accidents that have taken place with this company in the past, 1997 accident with a rotor hit the side of a building in manhattan and had to have an emergency landing. nobody was hurt then. two years ago a liberty helicopter actually fell 500 feet from the sky during a sightseeing trip. the pilot was able to land that plane safely. there were no injuries in that case either. the pilot of that chopper likely did not stand a chance when he was hit from behind the pilot of a small plane.

all nine people presumed dead. our coverage continues right here on fox news channel with more information and new pictures coming in when we come right back. (announcer) this is nine generations of the world's most revered luxury sedan. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars... this is the world record for longevity and endurance. and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the planet.

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