A helicopter that crashed into a New York river has claimed the lives of all six people onboard, including a family-of-five.
At 3.17pm Eastern Time yesterday (April 10), the chopper, which New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed was operated by New York Helicopters, crashed into the Hudson River.
An extensive search and rescue mission was launched within minutes as first responders worked to understand whether there were any survivors, before New York City Mayor Eric Adams later confirmed that all six people had died.
The victims of the flight have been identified as Siemens executive Agustín Escobar, of Barcelona, Spain, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three children aged 11, five and four, officials confirmed, while an unidentified pilot of the aircraft made up the fatalities.
The owner of the chopper, Michael Roth, 71, has since told The Telegraph: “He [the pilot] called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel, and it should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but 20 minutes later, he didn’t arrive.”
An eye witness named Max spoke to ABC News about the crash, explaining that heard the tragedy unfold, before seeing the aftermath.
He said: “It sounded like a sonic boom so I look up and literally I saw helicopter splitting in 2, with the rotor flying off in the sky it was going so fast and it just went straight into the water,” an eye witness named Max told ABC News, as he explained that heard the tragedy unfold, before seeing the aftermath.
Agustín Escobar and his family died in the crash (New York Helicopter Tours LLC)
“Nothing came up afterwards it must have just sunk and that was it, and then I just waited here and like five minutes later we started seeing the police and stuff come.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.”
He continued: “For me I just thought it was going to be like city noise, like a crash or like maybe like a jet going overhead – I know that’s probably not common.
“But yeah, just like a big bang on my right and then like a whoop whoop [making a helicopter noise] as you see the propeller like flying off like up way higher than the the helicopter and just land straight in the water.
“I’m not like [sure], maybe the tail separated? But I think definitely the rotor separated and the body went straight into the water, so some something must have happened with the rotor and it just flipped right off.”
Police and firefighters work on the site after a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River near lower Manhattan, on April 10 (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The helicopter took off from Downtown Manhattan at 2.59pm, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) believing the aircraft was a Bell 206 and was on its sixth flight of the day, as per ABC News.
An investigation into the crash is set to be conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social yesterday to give condolences to the victims’ families.
“Terrible helicopter crash in the Hudson River. Looks like six people, the pilot, two adults, and three children, are no longer with us. The footage of the accident is horrendous,” the 78-year-old Republican wrote.
“God bless the families and friends of the victims. Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, and his talented staff are on it. Announcements as to exactly what took place, and how, will be made shortly!”
