The Spanish household killed in a horrific helicopter crash into the Hudson River had employed the high-flying sightseeing tour as a part of a birthday celebration, officers stated Friday because the helicopter proprietor informed reporters the pilot was low on gasoline moments earlier than the tragedy occurred.
Vacationers Agustin Escobar, the CEO of expertise large Siemens Spain, his spouse Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three younger kids had been all killed within the crash together with the pilot.
The household had come to New York Metropolis to rejoice the birthday of considered one of their kids, Mayor Adams stated Friday.
“We know the ages of the young people involved — 4, 8 and 10 — and unfortunately the 8-year-old it was his birthday today, so this was probably part of a normal tourist attraction of seeing the city from the skyline, but just a real unfortunate situation,” Adams stated on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York.”
Jersey Metropolis Mayor Steven Fulop wrote on X that Camprubi Montal was additionally celebrating her fortieth birthday this week.
Escobar was in New York Metropolis on enterprise and had his household fly to the Massive Apple so they might “extend the trip a couple days in NYC,” the Jersey Metropolis mayor stated.
“The brother in law is flying in this AM and we are working with [the medical examiner] to expedite release of the family to fly back to Spain,” Fulop stated. “Take a moment today and think about this family and your family. These situations are always very difficult and sad.”
The 36-year-old pilot had radioed moments earlier than plummeting into the water that he was desperately low on gasoline and was heading again to the helipad, New York Helicopter CEO Michael Roth informed The Telegraph.
The pilot made the radio transmission simply earlier than the three:15 p.m. crash on the New Jersey facet of the river. The helicopter took off from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in decrease Manhattan simply earlier than 3 p.m.
“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 informed The Telegraph. “I got a call from my manager and my downtown heliport and she said she heard there was a crash, and then my phone blew up from everybody. Then one of my pilots flew over the Hudson and saw the helicopter upside down.”
Gardiner Anderson / New York Each day Information
Particles from a helicopter crash, together with a toddler’s shoe, is seen within the Hudson River in Jersey Metropolis on Thursday. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Each day Information)
“The death of the child, of any human being, is a monumental disaster,” Roth informed The Telegraph. “We’re all devastated. Every employee in our company is devastated. My wife has not stopped crying.”
“I’m not going to say anything,” he stated earlier than hanging up on a reporter.
Fb; Gardiner Anderson / New York Each day Information
(Left) Agustin Escobar, his spouse, Merce Camprubi Montal with two of their three kids in an undated photograph. (Fb; Gardiner Anderson / New York Each day Information)
The Federal Aviation Administration and the Nationwide Transportation Security Board have launched investigations into the crash, Mayor Adams stated. An NTSB briefing on the investigation was anticipated Friday.
The copter within the deadly crash first headed up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge, the place it circled after which headed again south, flying alongside the New Jersey facet of the river earlier than immediately dropping upside-down into the river close to Hoboken, Mayor Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated Thursday.
The flight lasted lower than 18 minutes, officers stated.
New York Helicopter filed for chapter in 2019, claiming it had a whole lot of hundreds in money owed. A big portion of the money owed, about $114,000, had been for “repair services.”
The corporate has combined opinions on Yelp, with a minimum of one buyer complaining that the corporate didn’t do correct security checks earlier than takeoff. Different prospects stated staff had been impolite and charged surprising charges.
Gardiner Anderson / New York Each day Information
Bystanders look on as rescue boats reply to a helicopter crash within the Hudson River in Jersey Metropolis on Thursday. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Each day Information)
“Extreme negligence of security protocols that must be associated with a helicopter ride,” stated buyer Kumar Sourabh, who visited the Massive Apple from California. “I have been in a helicopter ride before and had a 180 degree opposite experience. There was no briefing provided on security measures. As soon as the aircraft landed, and without any notice or instructions, as the helicopter blades were running on full sound, the owner rushed to us and started to pull us down.”
A Bell 206 helicopter owned by New York Helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in June 2013.
The helicopter misplaced energy, and the pilot made an emergency touchdown. No accidents had been reported, and the NTSB discovered {that a} upkeep flub and an engine lubrication anomaly led to the ability cutoff.
Thursday’s crash was the primary for a helicopter within the metropolis since one hit the roof of a skyscraper in 2019, killing the pilot.
A minimum of 38 individuals have died in helicopter accidents in New York Metropolis since 1977. A collision between a aircraft and a vacationer helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed 9 individuals, and 5 died in 2018 when a constitution helicopter providing “open door” flights went down into the East River.
After Thursday’s crash, Fulop referred to as for an finish of sightseeing helicopter excursions over the Hudson River.
“This has been an issue we have pushed at the federal level for a decade with no response,” he wrote on X. “This isn’t the primary crash that has occurred and the truth is that the airspace right here is just too crowded above a densely populated space to permit this.
“These tourist helicopters should not be allowed and hopefully this terrible tragedy brings some change so that it will never happen again to any other family,” he wrote.
On Friday Mayor Adams disagreed with Fulop’s evaluation, saying on 1010 Wins that the sightseeing excursions are a part of the “attractiveness” of town.
On NY 1, Adams did go away the door open for tighter restrictions on non-emergency helicopter site visitors.
“I remember in 1977 when the helicopter crashed into the PanAm Building, we made adjustments and modifications, you can always adjust and modify based on these circumstances,” he stated. “There were 17 crashes over the approximately 40 years. Those are numbers that you have to look at when you make these adjustments.”
This can be a persevering with story. Test again for updates.
Initially Revealed: April 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM EDT
