A tourist chopper carrying a family from Spain crashed into the Hudson River in New York City, killing six people, three of whom were children.
New York Helicopters chartered the helicopter, which was carrying a pilot, two adults, and three children. On Thursday afternoon, the helicopter crashed into the Hudson River near Lower Manhattan in New York City, according to a press conference.
Officials from the European robotics company Siemens say that Agustin Escobar, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal, and their four, five, and eleven-year-old children were all killed in the crash. So was the pilot, who was 36 years old.
The plane went down off the coast of River Drive in Hoboken, New Jersey, at 3:17 p.m., a little more than 15 minutes after taking off from the Wall St. Heliport. During the meeting, officials said that the helicopter got to the George Washington Bridge before it turned south and crashed.
Two sources from Spain told ABC News on Thursday that the five-person family was from Barcelona, Spain.
This morning, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, “Our hearts go out to the family and those on board.”
The helicopter fell into the water without its tail rotor or main rotor blades, as seen on video from the crash. The government said it hit the water upside down.
The event is being looked into by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The staff at Jersey City Medical Center worked very hard to help the people who were hurt in the crash, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop told ABC News.
On Thursday night, President Donald Trump posted on social media that the crash was “terrible” and that the video of it is “horrendous.”
ABC News reported that Dani Horbiak saw the chopper “fall out of the sky” from her apartment window.
“I heard five or six loud noises that sounded almost like gunshots in the sky and saw pieces fall off, then watched it fall into the river,” she shared.
I saw the chopper go down at a 45-degree angle as I walked by, Eric Campoverde told ABC News. “Big splash — it was very scary.”
“It sounded like a sonic boom,” someone who heard it told WABC in New York. He observed the “helicopter splitting in two with the rotor flying off.”
I heard someone else tell WABC, “One propeller broke into pieces.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said the helicopter was a Bell 206. It was on its sixth flight of the day. Sources say that when firefighters got to the scene, which was closer to the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, they found it upside down in 50-degree water.
Following the crash on the Jersey City side of the river, Fulop told WABC on Thursday that the Jersey City Police Department is now in charge of the probe.
“The city has had safety concerns about the air traffic over the Hudson before,” Fulop said. “They hope this brings more attention to their safety concerns.”