( CNN ) -- The chilling 911 call from a man whose single-engine plane had crashed into the icy Hudson River captures what he thought were his last moments . `` I am going to lose you . I am going to lose you ! '' Christopher Smidt , 43 , told the 911 operator as he and his flight instructor got out of the aircraft and into frigid waters of the Hudson near Yonkers , New York . `` It 's freezing , '' Smidt gasps as the chill of the water overtakes his body . Smidt , a student pilot , and his instructor , Deniece De Priester , 39 , were flying a Piper PA-32 late Sunday afternoon , using visual flight rules and not receiving air traffic control services , the FAA said . The calm emergency operator urged Smidt and De Priester to get out of the cockpit : `` I need you to get out of the plane so you are not trapped in the plane . '' `` We are out . We 're not going to make it to shore , '' Smidt replied on the cell phone that he had used to contact 911 . The operator told Smidt that emergency services were on their way . But Smidt was not sure of his fate : `` OK . I 'm gon na lose you , '' he said . Those were the last words the operator heard from him . Detective Daniel Higgins of the Yonkers Police Department was among the rescuers who pulled Smidt and De Preister from the water . `` We had access to the pilot boats , so we were able to get aboard and start it up and get to the two victims in the water , '' he told CNN affiliate News 12 Westchester . `` If we did n't get there quick enough , well , let 's just say we were glad to get there quick . '' Smidt credits De Priester for her fast thinking and her skill , as well as , the New York Police Department and the Yonkers Police Department and Higgins for saving their lives from the freezing water . `` I know I do n't want to be back in that water . I do n't want Deneice to be back in that water , '' Smidt told CNN . Smidt and De Preister were taken to Jacobi Medical Center on Sunday and released on Monday . The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash . Calls to Smidt and De Preister for comment were not returned . CNN 's Mary Snow contributed to this report .
Two people were aboard a single-engine Piper that crashed into the Hudson River . `` It 's freezing , '' man tells 911 operator as he and his instructor get out . ` ` We were glad to get there quick , '' detective says of water rescue . '" I'm not sure what happened