The witnesses of a fatal helicopter crash in New York City’s Hudson River have recalled seeing the chopper break apart in mid-air before nosediving into the river in a “loud crash”.
All six people on board the helicopter died, mayor Eric Adams confirmed. Divers retrieved four people from the river, two of whom were alive and rushed to nearby hospitals before dying from their injuries.
Witness Bruce Wall, 28, recalled seeing the helicopter “falling apart probably 15 feet before it actually fell and then the tail whipped off”.
The Jersey City resident described the sound of “something breaking apart in mid-air,” according to the New York Times. “The helicopter was still pretty loud and then just a loud, loud crash into water.”
An unnamed woman said in quotes broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the “helicopter was a little bit nose down slightly, it kept spinning in the air”.
A Spanish family of two adults and three children and the helicopter’s pilot were identified as the victims. Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company, and their three children all died.
President Donald Trump has offered his condolences and the National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation.
Pictured: Helicopter’s landing skids poke out of the river
Siemens Mobility ‘deeply saddened’ by death of CEO
Siemens Mobility, the company for which helicopter crash victim Agustin Escobar was CEO, has said it is “deeply saddened” to learn of his death.
Escobar, who was the chief of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility – the train transportation arm of Germany-based technology company Siemens – was killed alongside four members of his family.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives,” the spokesperson told The Independent.
Here’s what we know so far about the deadly helicopter crash
Here’s what we know about the crash:
Lawmaker calls for ban on tourist helicopters
New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal has called for a ban on sightseeing helicopter tours, saying we were “minutes” from disaster had the chopper crashed into the densely-populated ground.
Including the crash on Thursday, 25 people have died in New York City in helicopter sightseeing incidents – all of whom have been onboard the aircraft.
“We averted disaster possibly by just minutes. And that is the concern here. Which is if a helicopter gets in trouble in a densely populated area like Manhattan, the disaster could be far worse,” Hoylman-Sigal said according to ABC 7 New York.
“There’s no reason to allow tourists and tour flight operators to use our valuable precious airspace,” he said, adding: “the danger is that FAA regulates airspace above 500 feet, so the city and state are prohibited from passing laws that make tourist choppers safer. “
The senator has been trying to limit helicopter traffic over the city to first responders, news and necessary transport.
FDNY: Divers immediately deployed into river for rescue operation
The Fire Department of New York released the following statement:
Around 3:15 Thursday afternoon, the FDNY received calls for a helicopter crash in the Hudson River. FDNY Marine Units quickly responded to waters off Pier 40 in Lower Manhattan. FDNY divers were immediately deployed into the river to begin rescue operations. Tragically, six people were pronounced dead.
Watch: Mayor Eric Adams confirms six deaths in Hudson River crash
Spanish PM: This is an unimaginable tragedy
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has commented on the “unimaginable tragedy” in the Hudson River, after a Spanish family of five were killed in the crash.
Sanchez said in an X post: “The news reaching us today of the helicopter crash in the Hudson River is devastating.
“Five Spaniards from the same family, three of them children, and the pilot have lost their lives.
“An unimaginable tragedy. I share in the grief of the victims’ loved ones at this heartbreaking time.”
Watch: Moment of Hudson helicopter crash captured on flight tracker
‘Obviously mechanical failure’, says pilot of same helicopter model
Dan Rice, who frequently flies in the same model of helicopter as the one which plummeted into the Hudson River, has said it was “obviously a catastrophic failure” which caused the crash.
Speaking to CBS News, he said: “Obviously, a catastrophic failure of the aircraft. That’s very obvious. Booms and noises like that indicate some sort of mechanical issue.”
“There’s one video in particular where you see the main component of the helicopter, the fuselage, upside down,” he added. “And what struck me, what scared me, is the main rotor system was gone.
“There’s no main rotor on the helicopter. And the tail boom was also gone, and it’s just a vessel at that point with no direction.”
Rice said he “can’t imagine” what could have led to the tail rotor – the system which prevents the helicopter spinning out of control – from falling off.
“We’ll wait for the investigation to give us those details, but from what I’ve seen, separation of the blades is what caused this chopper to go down. What led to the separation is what we have to find out,” he added.
Source: independent.co.uk