The six people whose lives were tragically cut short in a helicopter crash have been identified.
The helicopter was carrying a family of five from Spain when it “split in half” mid-air and spiraled down into the Hudson River off New York City on Thursday afternoon.
The victims included the head of the Spanish branch of technology company Siemens and his family.
Highlights
- A family of five Spanish tourists tragically lost their lives in the latest US aviation disaster.
- Agustín Escobar, president and CEO of Siemens in Spain, arrived in New York City the same day of the crash.
- All six, including the pilot, Agustín’s wife Merce Camprubi Montal and their three kids lost their lives.
A family of Spanish tourists tragically lost their lives in the latest US aviation disaster
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Agustín Escobar, president and CEO of Siemens Spain, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company, and their three children lost their lives along with the pilot in the latest US aviation disaster.
The children were aged 4, 5 and 11.
Agustín Escobar, president and CEO of Siemens Spain, and his family were aboard the doomed chopper
Image credits: Siemens Press
The five Spanish tourists took off in the Bell 206 aircraft at 2:59 p.m. from the downtown Manhattan heliport and flew south before turning to fly north up the Manhattan shoreline, officials said.
The ill-fated helicopter was in the air for about 15 minutes before the crash.
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The family of Spanish tourists reportedly arrived in New York City the very same day of the crash.
“They were d—d as soon as whatever happened happened,” said Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps.
The helicopter was in the air for about 15 minutes before it “split” into two halves mid-air
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Justin believes a “catastrophic mechanical failure” may have taken place, leaving the pilot helpless with no way of saving his passengers.
“There’s no indication they had any control over the craft. No pilot could have prevented that accident once they lost the lifts,” he told the Associated Press. “It’s like a rock falling to the ground. It’s heartbreaking.”
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez acknowledged the “unimaginable tragedy” on social media.
“I share in the grief of the victims’ loved ones at this heartbreaking time,” he said.
Harrowing videos captured the moment the doomed chopper came tumbling down and crashed into the river at around 3:15 p.m.
Harrowing videos captured the helicopter tumbling down and crashing into the river
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“I’m absolutely devastated,” Michael Roth, the CEO of the New York helicopter company that operated the crashed helicopter, told the New York Post.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” he continued, adding that he hadn’t seen anything like this in his three decades of being in the helicopter business.
Image credits: CBS New York
“I’m a father, a grandfather and my wife hasn’t stopped crying since this afternoon,” he told CNN.
When asked about the helicopter’s maintenance, he said it was his “director of maintenance who deals with that.”
Witnesses said they saw the moment the helicopter split into two mid-air.
“It sounded like a sonic boom,” one witness said
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Describing the sound “like a sonic boom,” one witness recalled to WABC, “I looked up and literally just see a helicopter splitting in two with the rotor flying off into the sky.”
The helicopter was plunging so fast and “just went straight into the water,” the witness said.
“I've never seen anything like that in my life,” they added.
The wreckage was pulled out of the Hudson River late Thursday night
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Emergency responders were captured removing parts of the crashed helicopter from the Hudson River late Thursday night.
The wreckage, including the heavily damaged cockpit, was seen being lifted by a crane.
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Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop claimed the airspace around New York City and New Jersey had become overcrowded and blamed the federal government.
“This is not the first crash that has happened, and the reality is that the airspace here is too crowded above a densely populated area to allow this,” Fulop wrote on social media.
“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 added.
Netizens expressed heartbreak over the news of the pilot and Spanish family's tragic passing
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