A sightseeing helicopter carrying a Siemens executive and his family plunged into the Hudson River on Thursday afternoon, killing all five passengers and their pilot.
Agustín Escobar, 43, led Siemens’ operations in Spain and Southwest Europe. He was travelling with his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their children aged 4, 5, and 11. The family had been visiting New York from Barcelona.
The pilot, a 36-year-old man whose name has not yet been released, also died in the crash.
The Bell 206 helicopter took off from Manhattan’s Wall Street Heliport at 2:59 p.m. and followed a standard sightseeing route north along the Hudson River. It reached the George Washington Bridge before turning back.
The crash occurred at 3:17 p.m. near Hoboken, New Jersey.
Emergency crews recovered all six bodies from the water, where the aircraft was found upside down in 50-degree conditions.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the loss as “devastating” and said the deaths of five Spaniards from the same family were “an unimaginable tragedy.”
Emergency personnel work at the scene of a helicopter crash on the Hudson River near lower Manhattan in New York, as seen from Newport, New Jersey, on April 10, 2025. Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Flight details and crash timeline
The Bell 206L-4 LongRanger helicopter took off from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at 2:59 p.m. and flew a typical sightseeing route over the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson River.
It reached the George Washington Bridge before turning back south, when it reportedly lost control and flipped before crashing upside down into the water.
Witnesses described the aircraft plummeting from the sky, shedding debris mid-air before the violent impact. First responders recovered all six people from the river. Weather conditions at the time included cloudy skies, light rain, and gusting winds.
Previous safety concerns and ongoing investigation
The helicopter was manufactured in 2004 and had a current airworthiness certificate. However, the operator, New York Helicopter Charter, has a history of safety incidents, including a forced water landing in 2013 and maintenance issues flagged in 2015.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is now leading the investigation, with a "go-team" dispatched to the crash site. They will examine compliance with FAA airworthiness directives, including those related to rotor blade integrity and tail rotor drive systems.
NTSB officials are also reviewing reports from 911 callers and data from the aircraft’s ADS-B tracking system. Early analysis shows the flight lasted approximately 16 minutes before the crash.
The helicopter remains submerged, and recovery and investigation efforts are ongoing.
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