Video: Chilling moments as chopper crashed into Hudson river New York, killing Siemens Spain CEO, his family

A tourist helicopter plummeted upside down into New York City's Hudson River on Thursday killing all six people on board, including a Spanish family with three children and the pilot, Mayor Eric Adams said.

Advertisement

Victims of the Hudson River helicopter crash have been identified as Siemens Spain CEO Agustin Escobar, his wife, and their three children. The family arrived from Barcelona Thursday. The pilot has yet to be identified.

New York City police referred requests for confirmation that Escobar was aboard the helicopter to the US Coast Guard. The Coast Guard said in a statement that it did not yet have the names of the victims. Siemens did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

Video of the crash showed what appeared to be a large object plunging into the river, followed seconds later by what appeared to be a helicopter blade. Afterwards, emergency and police boats were seen circling around a patch of river where the helicopter was submerged, with only what appeared to be the aircraft's landing gear poking above the water's surface.

JUST IN: 6 people are confirmed to be deceased in the Hudson River helicopter crash, according to the Associated Press.

The chopper's propeller was seen detached from the helicopter, spinning into the water.

According to a witness who spoke with NBC, the chopper blade just… pic.twitter.com/EMpWMJC9el

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 10, 2025

The Bell 206 chopper, operated by New York Helicopter Tours, departed at about 3 p.m. ET (1900 GMT) from a downtown helicopter pad and flew north over the Hudson River, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

It turned south when it reached the George Washington Bridge and crashed minutes later, hitting the water upside down and getting submerged near Lower Manhattan at around 3:15 p.m., just off Hoboken, New Jersey, Tisch added.

Divers helped remove the victims from the water. Four were pronounced dead at the scene, while two others were taken to area hospitals where they died.

The airspace around Manhattan is crowded with helicopters offering tourists a bird's-eye view of the sights, with at least two dozen operators listed on tour website Viator. Many of the operators also offer helicopter shuttle services to the area airports.

With inputs from Reuters