NEW YORK. August 8, 2009. Nine people are believed to have been killed after a private plane and a tourist helicopter collided in mid-air above the Hudson River off Lower Manhattan on Saturday.

The crash happened just before noon EDT, across pier 40. It involved a Piper PA-32 plane, which is a fixed wing single-engine plane, and a Eurocopter helicopter belonging to Liberty Tours.

According to Mayor Bloomberg, the plane was carrying a pilot and two passengers. The helicopter was carrying a total of six people, five of whom were Italian tourists. He described the mid-air collision as “not survivable.” One of the tourists was a child, but his or her age was not immediately known.

The plane, which was manufactured in 1976, was registered to LCA Partnership from Fort Washington in Pennsylvania. It took off from Teterboro Airport in Teaneck, New Jersey shortly before noon, said Laura Brown, who is a spokeswoman for the FAA.

The Liberty Tours helicopter was believed to be either taking off or landing at a heliport on 14 Street, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Coast Guard said. She said the airframe of the plane has been recovered.

Officials describe the emergency response as “multi-agency”. Rescue workers from the New York City Police Department, New York City Fire Department, the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard are among the agencies responding.

The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash and is en-route to the crash site.