NYC sightseeing helicopter plunges into Hudson River, killing 6

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York Metropolis sightseeing helicopter broke aside in midair Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing the pilot and a household of 5 Spanish vacationers within the newest U.S. aviation catastrophe, officers mentioned.

The victims included Siemens govt Agustin Escobar, his spouse, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a world supervisor at an power know-how firm, and three kids, along with the pilot, an individual briefed on the investigation instructed The Related Press. The particular person couldn’t talk about particulars of the investigation publicly and spoke on situation of anonymity.

Images posted on the helicopter firm’s web site confirmed the couple and their kids smiling as they boarded simply earlier than the flight took off.

The flight departed a downtown heliport round 3 p.m. and lasted lower than 18 minutes. Radar knowledge confirmed it flew north alongside the Manhattan skyline after which again south towards the Statue of Liberty.

Video of the crash confirmed elements of the plane tumbling by way of the air into the water close to the shoreline of Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey.

Witnesses describe the helicopter’s plunge into the Hudson

A witness there, Bruce Wall, mentioned he noticed it “falling aside” in midair, with the tail and major rotor coming off. The primary rotor was nonetheless spinning with out the helicopter because it fell.

Dani Horbiak was at her Jersey Metropolis residence when she heard what seemed like “a number of gunshots in a row, nearly, within the air.” She seemed out her window and noticed the chopper “splash in a number of items into the river.”

The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with “a bunch of smoke popping out” earlier than it slammed into the water, mentioned Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant alongside the river in Hoboken, New Jersey.

On air site visitors management radio, an NYPD helicopter pilot may be heard saying, “Be suggested, you do have an plane down. Holland Tunnel. Please preserve your eyes open for anyone within the water.”

About 5 minutes after that, somebody asks, “Hey Best,” a reference to the NYPD’s name signal, “what’s occurring over there by the Holland Tunnel?”

“The ship went down,” another person responds.

Rescue boats circled the submerged plane inside minutes of influence close to the top of an extended upkeep pier for a air flow tower serving the Holland Tunnel. Restoration crews hoisted the mangled helicopter out of the water simply after 8 p.m. utilizing a floating crane.

The our bodies had been additionally recovered from the river, Mayor Eric Adams mentioned.

The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officers mentioned. Nobody answered the telephones on the firm’s workplaces in New York and New Jersey.

An individual who answered the telephone on the residence of the corporate’s proprietor, Michael Roth, mentioned he declined to remark. Roth instructed the New York Publish he was devastated and had “no clue” why the crash occurred.

“The one factor I do know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the primary rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” the Publish quoted him as saying. He added that he had not seen such a factor occur throughout his 30 years within the helicopter enterprise, however famous: “These are machines, they usually break.”

Emails searching for remark had been despatched to attorneys who’ve represented Roth previously.

The Federal Aviation Administration recognized the helicopter as a Bell 206, a mannequin broadly utilized in industrial and authorities aviation, together with by sightseeing firms, TV information stations and police. It was initially developed for the U.S. Military earlier than being tailored for different makes use of. 1000’s have been manufactured through the years.

The Nationwide Transportation Security Board mentioned it will examine.

Tragedy strikes a household from Spain

Escobar labored for the tech firm Siemens for greater than 27 years, most just lately as world CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, in response to his LinkedIn account. In late 2022 he briefly turned president and CEO of Siemens Spain. In a submit concerning the place, he thanked his household: “my countless supply of power and happiness, for his or her unconditional assist, love … and persistence.”

Escobar commonly posted concerning the significance of sustainability within the rail trade and infrequently traveled internationally for work, together with journeying to India and the UK previously month. He additionally was vp of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.

“We’re deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash during which Agustin Escobar and his household misplaced their lives. Our heartfelt condolences exit to all their family members,” Siemens mentioned in an announcement early Friday.

Camprubí Montal labored in Barcelona, Spain, for power know-how firm Siemens Power for about seven years, together with as its world commercialization supervisor and as a digitalization supervisor, in response to her LinkedIn account.

Spanish regional authorities officers mentioned the household resided in Barcelona.

“(I’m) dismayed by the tragic helicopter accident within the Hudson River in New York which price the lives of six folks, 5 of which had been members of a Barcelona household,” Catalan regional president Salvador Illa wrote on X.

One other regional official mentioned Agustin Escobar was initially from Puertollano, a city in central Spain.

“I wish to categorical my sorrow for the site visitors helicopter accident in New York that claimed the lives of Agustín Escobar and his household,” Castilla La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Web page wrote on X. “Agustín is native of Puertollano and in 2023 we named him a Favourite Son of Castilla La Mancha.”

What could have prompted the crash

Video of the crash recommended {that a} “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no probability to save lots of the helicopter, mentioned Justin Inexperienced, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot within the Marine Corps.

It’s doable the helicopter’s major rotors struck the tail growth, breaking it aside and inflicting the cabin to free fall, Inexperienced mentioned.

“They had been useless as quickly as no matter occurred occurred,” Inexperienced mentioned. “There’s no indication that they had any management over the craft. No pilot may have prevented that accident as soon as they misplaced the lifts. It’s like a rock falling to the bottom. It’s heartbreaking.”

The skies over Manhattan are routinely stuffed with planes and helicopters, each non-public leisure plane and industrial and vacationer flights. Manhattan has a number of helipads from which enterprise executives and others are whisked to locations all through the metropolitan space.

At the very least 38 folks have died in helicopter accidents in New York Metropolis since 1977. A collision between a aircraft and a vacationer helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed 9 folks, and 5 died in 2018 when a constitution helicopter providing “open door” flights went down into the East River.

New York Helicopters additionally owned a Bell 206 that misplaced energy and made an emergency touchdown on the Hudson throughout a sightseeing tour in June 2013. The pilot managed to land safely and he and the passengers — a household of 4 Swedes — had been unhurt. The Nationwide Transportation Security Board discovered {that a} upkeep flub and an engine lubrication anomaly led to the ability cutoff.

Thursday’s crash was the primary for a helicopter within the metropolis since one hit the roof of a skyscraper in 2019, killing the pilot.

The accidents and the noise brought on by helicopters have repeatedly led some neighborhood activists and officers to suggest banning or limiting site visitors at Manhattan heliports.

Different latest crashes and shut calls have already left some folks nervous concerning the security of flying within the U.S.

Seven folks had been killed when a medical transport aircraft plummeted right into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January. That occurred two days after an American Airways jet and an Military helicopter collided in midair in Washington within the deadliest U.S. air catastrophe in a era.

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Related Press reporters Mike Balsamo and Philip Marcelo in New York, Hallie Golden in Seattle and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.