Sean Johnson, who piloted the helicopter which plunged into the Hudson River in New York, was a 36-year-old former Navy Seal.

According to a picture on his Facebook page, posted only weeks ago, he had moved to the city to advance his aviation career.

Mr Johnson was one of six people to die in the accident. The other five, including three children, were a Spanish family on the sightseeing tour.

His Facebook page showed footage of him at the controls of a Bell 206 helicopter - the same model which plummeted into the river.

“When it all comes together,” he wrote on the page.

Friends added on the page that he was “living the dream”.

Originally from Chicago, Mr Johnson had also lived in Salem, Massachusetts, and Virginia and Montana where he had worked on two different helicopters.