A sightseeing helicopter in New York broke apart mid-flight on Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing the pilot along with a Spanish family of five tourists. The incident marks the latest aviation tragedy in the United States.
Among those killed were Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal – a global manager at an energy technology firm – and their three children, aged four, five and 11. The 36-year-old pilot also died in the crash.
Photographs shared on the helicopter tour company’s website showed the family smiling moments before boarding the aircraft (main image).
The family had arrived in New York from Barcelona earlier in the day, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.
The flight took off from a heliport in downtown Manhattan shortly after 3pm local time, and it lasted just under 18 minutes. Radar tracking indicated that the helicopter flew north past Manhattan’s skyline, then looped back south in the direction of the Statue of Liberty.
Footage of the accident captured debris from the aircraft falling through the sky before splashing into the Hudson near Jersey City, New Jersey.
It has also emerged that the helicopter pilot warned he needed to refuel just before the tragedy that killed all six on board.
One eyewitness, Bruce Wall, described seeing the aircraft ‘falling apart’ midair. He said the tail section and main rotor separated, with the rotor still spinning as it plummeted independently from the rest of the chopper.
A recording from air traffic control featured an NYPD helicopter pilot stating, ‘Be advised, you do have an aircraft down. Holland Tunnel. Please keep your eyes open for anybody in the water.’
Roughly five minutes later, another voice on the radio asked, ‘Hey Finest,’ – using the NYPD’s call sign – ‘what’s going on over there by the Holland Tunnel?’ Someone replied, ‘The ship went down.’
Rescue teams arrived quickly, circling the submerged wreckage near a long maintenance pier connected to a ventilation tower for the Holland Tunnel. A floating crane later lifted the damaged helicopter from the water shortly after 8pm, and recovery crews retrieved the bodies from the river, confirmed Mayor Eric Adams.
‘Our hearts go out to the family,’ Adams told reporters during a televised speech.
The six victims were ‘all pronounced deceased’, the NY mayor said. Four of them were rescued from the interior of the helicopter, and two from the water. Two of the travellers who were taken into local area hospitals ‘sadly both succumbed to their injuries’, he said.
Authorities identified the operator as New York Helicopters.
According to reports, Michael Roth, 71, who owns New York Helicopters, said that the aircraft was running out of fuel just minutes into their trip.
‘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,’ Roth told The Telegraph.
Roth said that he started to get a ton of phone messages before one of his other pilots flew over the Hudson ‘and saw the helicopter upside down’.
‘We’re all devastated. Every employee in our company is devastated. My wife has not stopped crying. The death of the child, of any human being, is a monumental disaster,’ Roth added.
The US Federal Aviation Administration stated that the downed helicopter was a Bell 206 — a model with a long history of use in commercial aviation, law enforcement, news media and tourism. Originally developed for the US military, it has since been widely adopted for civilian use, with thousands manufactured over time.
An investigation will be carried out by the National Transportation Safety Board.
US President Donald Trump posted on social media: ‘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. 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 shortly!’
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also expressed his condolences after learning of the ‘devastating’ news of the accident. ‘Five Spaniards from a same family, three of them children, and the pilot have lost their lives,’ he wrote on social media, adding that ‘it is an unimaginable tragedy’.
Spanish family victims
Escobar had been with the Siemens company for over 27 years, most recently serving as the global CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, according to his LinkedIn profile. In late 2022, he was appointed president and CEO of Siemens Spain. In a post reflecting on that role, he wrote, ‘my endless source of energy and happiness, for their unconditional support, love … and patience,’ referring to his family.
He was vocal about the role of sustainability in rail transportation and travelled extensively for work, including recent trips to India and the UK. He also held the position of vice president at the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.
Camprubí Montal worked at Siemens Energy in Barcelona for about seven years, holding positions including global commercialisation manager and digitalisation manager, as noted on her LinkedIn page.
According to The Times, Camprubí was from a well-known Barcelona family. Her brother Joan was a candidate for president of FC Barcelona in 2024 and both her grandfather, Agustí Montal i Costa, and great-grandfather, Agustí Montal Galobart, were presidents of the football club.
In a statement on Friday, Siemens said: ‘We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of Agustin Escobar and his family. Our deepest condolences go out to all of his relatives.’
Manhattan airspace
The airspace above Manhattan is frequently trafficked by a mix of private, commercial and sightseeing helicopters. Several heliports across the city support high-volume traffic, catering to business professionals and tourists alike.
Since 1977, helicopter accidents in New York City have claimed the lives of at least 38 individuals. A major incident in 2009 involved a midair collision between a small plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine. In 2018, five people died when a chartered ‘open door’ helicopter crashed into the East River.
New York Helicopters previously experienced a serious incident in June 2013 when another Bell 206 lost engine power during a tour. The pilot executed a successful emergency landing on the Hudson River, and all four Swedish passengers were unharmed. An NTSB investigation attributed the power failure to a maintenance error and an issue with the engine’s lubrication system.
Thursday’s tragedy is the first helicopter crash in New York City since 2019, when a chopper struck the roof of a skyscraper, killing the pilot.
In light of past accidents and persistent complaints about helicopter noise, some local officials and community groups have continued advocating for tighter regulations or outright bans on helicopter operations at Manhattan heliports.
Recent aviation mishaps across the country have fueled broader safety concerns. In January, a medical aircraft went down in a Philadelphia neighbourhood, killing seven. That crash occurred just two days after an American Airlines plane collided midair with an Army helicopter near Washington — the deadliest U.S. aviation accident in decades.
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Watch: ‘The helicopter just fell’ – Hudson River crash leaves six dead https://t.co/UlWJvCgLyA
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 11, 2025
A tourist helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York, killing all six people onboard, including Agustín Escobar, the CEO of Siemens in Spain, his family, and the pilot.#Hudson #Crash #Helicopter #Siemens #NewYork #cnbctv18digital pic.twitter.com/uMcvt7XEYx
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) April 11, 2025
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