Desperate search for pilot still missing in New York's Hudson River after his vintage WWII fighter crashed and sank

The pilot of a vintage World War II plane that crashed into the Hudson river tonight could still be missing - and in grave danger. New Jersey state police said he was rescued around 9pm and taken to hospital with minor injuries but the NYPD have slammed that report as 'inaccurate'. 


Amateur footage (inset, bottom) showed the P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft (file photo, inset top) flying just above the water surface moments before it went down. NYPD and FDNY Harbour units rushed to where the plane sank (indicated by red arrow), with the pilot still inside. They remained at the scene at the 79th boat basin on the Upper West Side. The plane, which was on loan from the American Airpower Museum, was flying with two others when the pilot - who has yet to be named - took it down for a crash landing after a mechanical failure.