Family killed in Hudson River helicopter crash booked sightseeing tour of NYC
Authorities are investigating the fatal April 10 crash of a helicopter in the Hudson River.
Just over two months after a crash between a military helicopter and an American Airlines (AAL) commercial plane sent both crashing into the Potomac River and killed all 67 aboard, another aviation tragedy took place in New York City.
On April 11, Spanish tech executive Agustín Escobar and four other members of his family were killed alongside the pilot when the helicopter they had booked for a tour of the New York skyline crashed into the Hudson River.
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'Both the wing of the helicopter and the propellor': Aviation expert describes fatal crash
Witnesses on both the New York and New Jersey side described seeing harrowing scenes of pieces of the single-engine Bell 206 helicopter falling from the sky into the water; video later showed that the aircraft landed in the water in an inverted position while missing both a top rotor and a tail bloom.
"Remember that the rotor blades on a helicopter, the big ones on the top, are both the wing of the helicopter and the propellor of the helicopter," jet pilot and aviation expert Arthur Alan Wolk told NBC News. "If you lose the main rotor blade, you're doomed. The helicopter falls like a brick."
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While the identities of the victims were not immediately released when the crash occurred at approximately 3:18 p.m. on April 10, New York authorities later confirmed one to be CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility Agustín Escobar. He had traveled to New York from Barcelona with his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal and their three children aged four, five and 11 years old.
The entire family of five, who booked the sightseeing journey with New York Helicopter Tours, was killed alongside the 36-year-old pilot. Augustín Escobar
'Our hearts go out to the family of those who were on board'
"We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustín Escobar and his family lost their lives," a Siemens spokesperson said to Reuters. New York Mayor Eric Adams also issued a statement saying that "our hearts go out to the family of those who were on board."
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When the helicopter landed in the river, a team of aviation, harbor, scuba and patrol rescue units arrived at the scene to pull out the victims but four died on the scene while another two died of their injuries after being transported to a nearby hospital. The helicopter is currently still submerged in the Hudson River as further evacuation teams work to get it out for the investigation into what caused it to crash.
Both Escobar and Camprubí Montal worked at Siemens for more than a decade; former colleagues described the two as "passionate" about their work in the rail and energy sectors and endlessly dedicated to their family of five.
"He was a loving, fun father, a really great guy," Siemens colleague Juan Ignacio Díaz said of Escobar to Spanish news outlets.
"The only thing I can tell you is that we are devastated," New York Helicopter Charter CEO Michael Roth, told CNN. "I'm a father, a grandfather and my wife hasn't stopped crying since this afternoon."
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