A tourist helicopter tragically crashed upside down into New York City’s Hudson River on Thursday, resulting in the deaths of all six individuals on board, including a Spanish family with three children and the pilot, as reported by Mayor Eric Adams. Among the deceased was Agustin Escobar, an executive at Siemens, as confirmed by the New York Times, citing unnamed law enforcement sources.
The New York City police redirected requests for confirmation regarding Escobar’s presence on the helicopter to the U.S. Coast Guard, which stated it had not yet confirmed the names of the victims. Siemens did not provide an immediate comment outside of normal business hours.
Video footage of the crash depicted a large object falling into the river, immediately followed by what appeared to be a helicopter blade. Emergency and police boats were observed navigating around the location where the helicopter had sunk, with only part of the landing gear visible above the water’s surface.
The Bell 206 helicopter, operated by New York Helicopter Tours, took off around 3 p.m. ET (1900 GMT) from a downtown helicopter pad, flying north over the Hudson River, according to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Upon reaching the George Washington Bridge, the helicopter turned south and crashed minutes later, hitting the water upside down and submerging near Lower Manhattan at approximately 3:15 p.m., just off the coast of Hoboken, New Jersey.
The airspace above Manhattan is densely populated with tour helicopters, with at least two dozen operators listed on the tour website Viator, many of which also provide shuttle services to nearby airports. New York Helicopter Tours, which advertises sightseeing flights starting at $114 per person, did not respond immediately to inquiries about the crash.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted that the tour helicopter was operating in a Special Flight Rules Area established in New York, where air traffic control services were not provided at the time of the crash. Both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the incident, with the NTSB leading the investigation. Duffy mentioned that the FAA would also launch a Safety Review Team on Thursday evening. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy and her team planned to arrive in New York later that day and would hold a press briefing on Friday.
New York City has a history of helicopter accidents. In 2018, five passengers died when a helicopter crashed into the East River, leaving the pilot as the sole survivor. That incident involved a charter flight that featured an open door for passengers to take pictures of the skyline.
A spokesperson for the New York City Police reported that police boats assisted in the rescue efforts on Thursday. Helicopter safety has garnered attention in the U.S. Congress following a fatal crash on January 29 that killed 67 people when an American Airlines regional jet collided with an Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. In response, the FAA has permanently restricted helicopter traffic in that area and is reviewing operations near other major airports.
