A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York on Thursday, killing all six people onboard, including the pilot and a family of Spanish tourists with three children.
The sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed upside down into the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront shortly after 3pm ET, leading to a huge response from emergency crews.
Videos posted on social media showed the aircraft mostly submerged, upside down in the water, and rescue vehicles crowding on to the streets on shore as emergency workers raced to save those onboard.
At the scene of the crash, the emergency response boats could be seen circling in the water. A crane could also be seen on a floating platform in the river, presumably trying to raise the sunken helicopter. Meanwhile on shore, fire and police personnel stopped the public and press from reaching the end of a long concrete pier on the river from downtown Manhattan, as scuba teams emerged from the water.
The New York mayor, Eric Adams, confirmed six people had been pronounced dead, including three children and three adults.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday evening, Adams said his thoughts were with the crash victims and their families. An investigation into the cause of the accident was ongoing, he said.
The flight lasted less than 18 minutes. Radar data showed it flew north along the Manhattan skyline and then back south toward the Statue of Liberty.
Witness Bruce Wall told the Associated Press he saw the helicopter “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and propeller coming off. The propeller was still spinning without the aircraft as it fell, he said.
Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey, told the AP she saw the helicopter spinning uncontrollably before it slammed into the water.
The rescue operations took place near a site close to the Manhattan waterfront, near the end of a long maintenance pier for one of the ventilation towers for the Holland tunnel, a busy under-river road tunnel connecting the city with New Jersey.
Over the years, there have been multiple crashes in the skies over Manhattan, which are routinely filled with both planes and helicopters, including private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights.
Prior incidents include a collision in 2009 when a tour helicopter and a small private airplane collided over the Hudson River, killing nine people. In 2018, a sightseeing helicopter offering “open door” flights went down into the East River, killing five people. New York City banned open-door helicopter flights following the crash.
The spot where the helicopter crashed is less than three miles (4.8km) south of where US Airways Capt Chesley Sullenberger expertly landed the passenger plane he was piloting, on the water, with no lives lost, after the engines were put out in a bird strike after takeoff from LaGuardia airport. The rare successful emergency landing on water became known as the “miracle on the Hudson”.
The crash site is close to the southern end of the island of Manhattan, within sight of the Statue of Liberty and the One World Trade skyscraper at the site of the September 11 terrorist attack.
New Yorkers were jogging and walking along the sidewalk near the Hudson as normal on Thursday evening, overlooking the scene of the crash with emergency boats still visible across the water on the New Jersey side, blue lights flashing.
The victims have been identified as Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, their three children and the pilot.
