The investigation was taking place into a helicopter accident that killed six people – among them a family of Spanish tourists – when the craft fell into the Hudson River in New York City on Thursday.
Last night, the recovery crew began to lift the ruins from Hudson with an ongoing investigation.
The investigation was led by the Jersey City Police Department, Mayor of City Jersey Steven Fulop told ABC News, with the involvement of the National Transportation Safety Council.
Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their children – aged 4, 5 and 11 years – have been identified as victims in the accident. Also killed was a pilot, aged 36, a source of law enforcement told ABC News. Pilots have not been identified publicly.
Emergency personnel worked in a helicopter accident in the Hudson River near Lower Manhattan in New York, as seen from Newport, New Jersey, on April 10, 2025.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Chopper – Operated by New York Helicopter Tours Company – fell into the Hudson River by Lower Manhattan in New York City on Thursday afternoon, officials said during a press briefing.
“We are devastated,” a company representative told ABC News. “My staff didn’t stop crying.”
The accident occurred at 3:17 pm off the coast of River Drive in Hoboken, New Jersey, only more than 15 minutes after departing from the wall of St. Heliport. The helicopter reached the George Washington bridge before turning south and crashed, said officials during the briefing.
Chopper – identified by Federal Aviation Administration as a Bell 206 helicopter – was on the sixth flight that day. It was found upside down in 50 degrees when the savior arrived at the scene, which was closer to the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, according to the source.
On this screen take from a video, a helicopter crashed into the Hudson river on April 10, 2025, in New York.
Avirbhawrakesh via x
Video from the accident shows a helicopter that plunged into water without a tail rotor or main rotor knife. Officials said it hit the water upside down.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters that four victims were declared dead at the scene. The other two then gave up on their wounds, he said.
The Jersey City medical center, where the passengers were transported after the accident, tried his best to save the injured, Fulop told ABC News.
Fulop said the city had concerns about air traffic above Hudson before and hoped that this would bring more attention to their security issues.
“Our hearts are on the family and people on the ship,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams during the direction of Thursday.
President Donald Trump went down to his social media platform on Thursday night, calling the accident “terrible” and said that the recorded accident “horrendous.”
October 2022, the photo file shows a helicopter that crashed into the Hudson river on April 10, 2025, in New York.
Maximilian Ruehmer-Junghardt
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a post to X that the news “destroyed.” He added, “Five Spaniards from the same family, three of them are children, and the pilot has lost their lives. A tragedy that is unimaginable.”
Dani Horbiak told ABC News that he watched the helicopter “fell from the sky” from the window of his apartment.
“I heard five or six loud voices that sounded almost like a shot in the sky and saw pieces falling, then watched it falling into the river,” he said.
“I walked through and the helicopter dropped at a 45 degree angle,” Eric Campoverde told ABC News. “Big Splash – it’s very scary.”
Emergency personnel worked in a helicopter accident in the Hudson River near Lower Manhattan in New York, as seen from Newport, New Jersey, on April 10, 2025.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
“It sounds like a sonic explosion,” a witness told ABC New York Wabc station. He said he saw “helicopter separated in half with flying rotors.”
Another witness told WABC, “A propeller -baling pieces.”
ABC News’ Leah Sarnoff and Erin Murtha contributed to this report.