At noon on July 5, a Kodiak 100 seaplane touched down too hard in the East River near 23rd Street and FDR Drive, leaving eight passengers almost submerged. Firefighters hauled the aircraft upright, towing it back to the dock and rescuing everyone aboard. Two occupants sustained minor injuries but declined medical treatment.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, noting that the pilot “made a hard landing” and a wing strut snapped during the touchdown. An FAA tweet added that air‑traffic control had not provided services to the aircraft at that time, and that the plane may have struck a wave that caused a partial capsizing.
A hard landing occurs when an aircraft descends with excessive vertical speed, surpassing manufacturer limits. The New York Times reported the plane was coming from the Hamptons and encountered a wave during landfall. An earlier incident three weeks prior had a small seaplane struck by a large wave near Queens, forcing a pilot and passenger onto a nearby boat.
