Video appears to show helicopter which crashed into New York skyscraper swirling and diving minutes before it came down

Bystander footage appears to show the helicopter which crashed ito a New York skyscraper on Monday flying erratically and making a steep dive shortly before it came down.

The footage, taken by New Yorker Wendy Slater and republished by several local news channels, shows what appears to be the Augusta A109E helicopter struggling to stay level in bad weather over the East River.

The helicopter can be seen struggling to maintain balance. It suddenly dives towards the river, then pulls up before heading north.

At 1:45 p.m., not long after Slater stopped filming, a helicopter crashed into the 229-meter AXA Equitable building on 51st and 7th Avenue.

Slater called in to CW affiliate PIX11 News moments after the crash.

“He was going high, and flying sideways, and diving, and it was just crazy,” she said.

Read more: Tourists who watched a helicopter crash on to the roof of a Manhattan building said ‘it takes you back a little bit’ to 9/11

“I assumed he was going to crash at any moment.”

Late on Monday Fire Department New York posted images of the crash site to Twitter.

58-year-old pilot Tim McCormack — who had 15 years flying experience — was the only victim. There were no other reported injuries.

New York Police Department commissioner Jim O’Neill said at a press conference on Monday McCormack had taken off in the privately owned helicopter from the 34th Street Helipad at 1:32 p.m. en route to Linden, New Jersey.

He crashed at 1:45 p.m.

Read more: Photos and video show the scene where a helicopter crashed into the roof of a building in midtown Manhattan

McCormack was also a volunteer firefighter for the East Clinton Fire Department, according to a tribute post by the department on Facebook.

“Chief McCormack was extremely respected by not only the members of the department, but throughout the Dutchess County fire service,” they wrote. “Rest in Peace Brother.”

In a statement on Monday evening outside the AXA Equitable building, FDNY lieutenant Adrienne Walsh told the media:

“We went to the 51st floor and took stairs to the roof. We saw a debris field that was on fire, with the fire contained to the roof. Unfortunately there was one casualty.”

FDNY Chief of Fire Operations Thomas Richardson said: “We arrived on the scene within five minutes, and most of the fire was extinguished within a half hour.”