NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists in the latest U.S. aviation disaster, officials said.
The victims included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at Siemens Energy, and three children, in addition to the pilot, a person briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press. The person could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Escobar worked for the tech company Siemens for more than 27 years, most recently as Gobal CEO for Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, according to his LinkedIn account. In late 2022, he briefly became president and CEO of Siemens Spain. In a post about the position, he thanked his family: “my endless source of energy and happiness, for their unconditional support, love … and patience.”
Camprubí Montal, a Barcelona native, also held a senior post at Siemens. According to her Linkedin account, she had been with Siemens for nine years, then most recently served as a global commercialization manager with Siemens Energy for just over seven years.
Escobar regularly posted about the importance of sustainability in the rail industry and often traveled internationally for work, including journeying to India and the UK in the past month. He also was vice president of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all their loved ones,” Siemens said in a statement early Friday.
ABC News reported that the children were ages 4, 8, and 10. The crash was one day before the 8-year-old’s birthday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said. The sightseeing tour was also part of a celebration for Montal’s 40th birthday, according to Jersey City Mayor Fulop.
“Our hearts go out to the family and those on board,” Adams said at a briefing.
Spanish regional government officials said the family resided in Barcelona.
“(I am) dismayed by the tragic helicopter accident in the Hudson River in New York which cost the lives of six people, five of which were members of a Barcelona family,” Catalan regional president Salvador Illa wrote on X.
Another regional official said Agustin Escobar was originally from Puertollano, a town in central Spain.
“I want to express my sorrow for the traffic helicopter accident in New York that claimed the lives of Agustín Escobar and his family,” Castilla La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page wrote on X. “Agustín is native of Puertollano and in 2023 we named him a Favorite Son of Castilla La Mancha.”
Photos posted on the helicopter company’s website showed the couple and their children smiling as they boarded just before the flight took off.
The flight departed a downtown heliport around 3 p.m. and lasted less than 18 minutes. Radar data showed it flew north along the Manhattan skyline and then back south toward the Statue of Liberty.
Video of the crash showed parts of the aircraft tumbling through the air into the water near the shoreline of Jersey City, New Jersey.
Dani Horbiak was at her Jersey City home when she heard what sounded like “several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air.” She looked out her window and saw the chopper “splash in several pieces into the river”.
The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with “a bunch of smoke coming out” before it slammed into the water, said Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey.
On air traffic control radio, an NYPD helicopter pilot can be heard saying, “Be advised, you do have an aircraft down. Holland Tunnel. Please keep your eyes open for anybody in the water.”
About five minutes after that, someone asks, “Hey Finest,” a reference to the NYPD’s call sign, “what’s going on over there by the Holland Tunnel?”
“The ship went down,” someone else responds.
Rescue boats circled the submerged aircraft within minutes of impact near the end of a long maintenance pier for a ventilation tower serving the Holland Tunnel. Recovery crews hoisted the mangled helicopter out of the water just after 8 p.m. using a floating crane.
The bodies were also recovered from the river, Mayor Eric Adams said.
The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officials said. No one answered the phones at the company’s offices in New York and New Jersey.
A person who answered the phone at the home of the company’s owner, Michael Roth, said he declined to comment. Roth told the New York Post he was devastated and had “no clue” why the crash happened.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” the Post quoted him as saying. He added that he had not seen such a thing happen during his 30 years in the helicopter business, but noted: “These are machines, and they break.”
Emails seeking comment were sent to attorneys who have represented Roth in the past.
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the helicopter as a Bell 206, a model widely used in commercial and government aviation, including by sightseeing companies, TV news stations and police. It was initially developed for the U.S. Army before being adapted for other uses. Thousands have been manufactured over the years.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate.
___
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Tagged with Biggest News, manufacturer, Siemens