Siemens executive, wife, three children dead in US helicopter crash - UPDATED
A family of five Spanish tourists and a pilot were killed when a helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, officials said, News.Az reports citing Associated Press (AP).
The victims included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and three children, in addition to the pilot, a person briefed on the investigation told AP.
The person could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
New York mayor Eric Adams said the flight began at a downtown heliport around 3pm, and the dead, including three children, had been recovered and removed from the water.
The flight, which took the aircraft north along the Manhattan skyline and then back south toward the Statue of Liberty, lasted less than 18 minutes.
Witness Bruce Wall said he saw the helicopter “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and propeller coming off.
Dani Horbiak was at her home in Jersey City, New Jersey, when she heard what sounded like “several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air”.
She looked out her window and saw the chopper “splash in several pieces into the river”.
The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with “a bunch of smoke coming out” before it slammed into the water, said Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Video of the crash showed parts of the chopper tumbling through the air into the water.
The overturned aircraft was submerged, with rescue boats circling it, near the end of a long maintenance pier for a ventilation tower serving the Holland Tunnel on the New Jersey side of the river.
The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officials said.
No one answered the phones at the company’s offices in New York and New Jersey.
A person who answered the phone at the home of the company’s owner, Michael Roth, declined to comment.
However, Mr Roth told the New York Post he was devastated and had “no clue” why the crash happened.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” the Post quoted him as saying.
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The New York Fire Department said it received a report of the crash at 3:17 p.m. All six people aboard were killed, a law enforcement official said, News.Az reports, citing AP.
The official was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
Witness Bruce Wall said he saw the helicopter “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and propeller coming off. The propeller was still spinning without the aircraft as it fell, he said.
Video posted to social media showed parts of the chopper splashing into the water, and the overturned aircraft was submerged, with rescue boats circling it.
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the helicopter as a Bell 206. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board planned to investigate.
The rescue craft were near the end of a long maintenance pier for a ventilation tower serving the Holland Tunnel on the New Jersey side of the river. Fire trucks and other emergency vehicles were on streets near the scene with their lights flashing.
A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River Thursday afternoon – killing at least one person on board, according to fire officials.
Rescue efforts are underway after witnesses saw the chopper “split in half” before it went down near Pier 40 on West Houston Street and West Street around 3:15 p.m., the New York City Fire Department said, News.Az reports, citing The New York Post.
Witnesses on social media also described a “loud thumping noise” when the helicopter crashed, with what appeared to be a broken propeller.
The chopper is now floating on the New Jersey border of the Hudson River near the vents to the Holland Tunnel near Jersey City, according to officials.
FDNY Land Marine units are on scene performing rescue operations, officials said.
It remains unclear what caused the crash and how many people were on board.Police warned of traffic delays in the surrounding area near West Side Highway and Spring Street.
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