A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River near Pier 40 in New York City. Videos of the moment the helicopter plunged into the water have surfaced.
At least six people died, including 3 kids, after a Bell 206 helicopter crashed into the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront around 3:15 p.m. on Thursday, the New York Post reported.
Chilling footage captured the moment the helicopter spiraled out of the sky before plummeting into the Hudson.
The head of the Spanish branch of the technology company Siemens and his family were identified as five of the victims who were killed. The sixth victim was the pilot, whose identity has not been announced.
Law enforcement sources said Agustin Escobar, president and CEO of Siemens in Spain, his wife, and their three children had just arrived in the Big Apple from Barcelona earlier in the day.
Bruce Wall
“It sounded like a sonic boom so I look up and literally I saw helicopter splitting in 2, with the rotor flying off in the sky it was going so fast and it just went straight into the water,” one eye witness explained who heard the tragedy unfold, before seeing the aftermath.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.”
Videos posted on social media showed the aircraft mostly submerged, upside down in the water.
Flight Tracker data revealed that the aircraft, carrying five passengers and a pilot, was airborne for approximately 15 minutes before crashing.
The helicopter ascended the Hudson from Lower Manhattan toward Fort Lee, then turned around just north of the George Washington Bridge, reaching the water near Hoboken leading up to the crash, according to records.
The chopper was floating upside down on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, near the vents of the Holland Tunnel close to Jersey City, when more than five dozen first responders arrived at the alarming scene and began rescue efforts, according to officials.
Gov. Kathy Hochul offered prayers for the victims and confirmed that her office was prepared to assist with recovery efforts.
It remains unclear what caused the crash.
X/theaxalam
The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights.
Manhattan has several helipads that whisk business executives and others to destinations throughout the metropolitan area.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Over the years, there have been multiple crashes, including a collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson River in 2009 that killed nine people and the 2018 crash of a charter helicopter offering ‘open door’ flights that went down into the East River, killing five people.
Earlier this year an an American Airlines-owned plane collided with a military chopper in Washington DC on January 29, in what was the US’s deadliest aviation disaster since 2001, as all 67 people involved in the crash having died.
Two days after the fatal crash in the US capital, a medical jet that crashed in Philadelphia, killing all six people onboard.
Six days later (February 6), a plane with 10 people onboard went missing over Alaska, with the wreckage later discovered and all passengers confirmed dead.
While in Arizona on February 10, a private plane owned by Vince Neil crashed into another plane at Scottsdale Airport, Arizona, as it was arriving from Austin, Texas. Neil was not on board.
One week later (February 17), 80 people onboard a Delta Air Lines flight that crashed and flipped upside down in Toronto were safely evacuated.
