New York crash victim 'serious'

A woman believed to be Karen Butler was taken away by stretcher

A British woman remained in a serious condition on Thursday after being trapped under water when a helicopter crashed into a New York river.

Karen Butler, from Chelmsford, Essex, has been in a medically-induced coma to aid her recovery at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital.

She almost drowned in Tuesday's accident when she was among seven people on the helicopter.

A spokesman said her condition had improved but she remained "serious".

On impact the cabin just filled up so quickly Passenger Mary Johnston

Three Australian survivors of the accident described their panic when the aircraft hit the water and they struggled to free themselves.

When they finally managed to get to the surface, they said they could hear Mr Butler's husband, Graham Rugless, shouting that his wife could not swim.

Ms Butler was pinned between the helicopter and its landing rail underwater before being dragged to safety by pilot Yossi Benbassat.

"On impact the cabin just filled up so quickly," passenger Mary Johnston told a news conference.

"I was probably under for nearly two minutes just trying to get my seat buckle undone and just taking in so much water.

Preliminary report

"I was actually thinking that I would never see my family again."

National Transportation Safety Board air safety investigator Robert Gretz said the agency hoped to have a preliminary report on the crash by the end of next week and a further report in six months.

A Foreign Office spokesman said consular staff were in contact with Mr Rugless and were "providing appropriate assistance".

The helicopter, operated by Helicopter Flight Services Inc, took off from Pier 11 on Manhattan's East River at 1.30pm local time (1830 BST) on Tuesday, carrying British, French and Australian tourists.