Pilot of helicopter that crashed into East River tells officials passenger bag may have hit fuel shutoff switch

A pilot who was the only survivor when a helicopter crashed into New York's East River (read here) has told officials what likely caused the crash.

Richard Vance told authorities he believed a passenger's bag might have hit an emergency fuel shutoff switch in the moments before the chopper went down. 

A federal official who was briefed on the investigation spoke to The Associated Press on Monday. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it would look at the switch, the chopper's flotation devices and the photos on passengers' cameras to figure out what caused the crash Sunday in the East River.

Five passengers died in the crash. The victims include Dallas fire Officer Brian McDaniel, 26, and his high school friend Trevor Cadigan, 26, a journalist who hailed from Dallas but had recently moved to New York. Carla Vallejos Blanco, 29, is another of the victims. She was a tourist from Corrientes, Argentina and was in New York for a few days. The fourth is Tristan Hill, 29. He was engaged to be married. The fifth victim was Daniel Thompson, 34, police said.

Trevor Cadigan

Brian McDaniel

Carla Vallejos Blanco