Authorities say the pilot of the helicopter that crash landed in the Hudson River near a busy Manhattan heliport Wednesday is from New Jersey.

According to authorities, Eric Morales, 35, of Mendham, survived with only minor injuries after his chopper went down.

The crash happened Thursday around 2:30 p.m.

According to police, the pilot just refueled and was attempting to take off and reposition for a landing when he lost control.

“He took a tailwind and he spun real fast, and he went right into the water,” says witness Jack Linkin. “It couldn't have happened any longer than like five seconds, it just happened so quickly. 

New York Waterway Capt. Adam Sciaino was carrying passengers across the Hudson River when he saw the helicopter go down -- and headed over to make a rescue.

“We didn’t really know what we were gonna see when we got over there,” says Sciaino.

The pilot was seen standing on one of the safety pontoons.

Deck hand Edwin Montoya threw the Jacobs ladder over to him so he could climb up.

Capt. Sciaino says they train for these types of situations.

“We do man overboard drills,” says Scianino. “The ladder in the water and recovering recover fake dummies -- we have plenty of drills we do.”

A dock worker attempting to get out of the way of the helicopter slipped and injured his right wrist. 

Morales was the only person on board. 

The helicopter is owned by a company called Zip Charter Services. 

It is unknown what caused the crash at this time.