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Agence France-Presse

A Spanish executive at the German firm Siemens Mobility and his family were among six people killed after the helicopter they were travelling in crashed into New York’s Hudson River on Thursday.
Parent company Siemens confirmed on Friday that the global head of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, Agustin Escobar, his wife and their three children all died in the accident.
The pilot was also killed, during a sightseeing flight over Manhattan.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives,” Siemens wrote in a statement. “Our deepest sympathies go out to all of the family members.”

“At this time, all six victims have been removed from the water. And sadly, all six victims have been pronounced deceased,” Mayor Eric Adams told a briefing, after earlier calling it a “heartbreaking and tragic crash”.
The chopper’s landing skids were seen protruding from the river beside a tunnel vent as several boats clustered around the crash site.
Police from both New York and New Jersey, which is on the opposite side of the river from Manhattan, responded to the scene along with fire department vessels.
The NBC4 channel reported that its own helicopter was unable to take off because of weather, with the weather in New York on Thursday gusty under thick cloud cover.


A witness said it appeared like the helicopter’s rotor blade “shattered in the sky”.
“And after it shattered, then we saw the helicopter just spiral … And then it just crashed into the water just like that,” fashion designer Belle Angel said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement it was Bell 206 helicopter.
“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate,” it added.




President Donald Trump took to social media to call the crash “terrible”.
“The footage of the accident is horrendous. God bless the families and friends of the victims,” he wrote on Truth Social.
The river is a busy shipping channel and the scene of a dramatic 2009 incident when a US Airways jet safely landed in the water. All 155 people on board escaped alive in an event dubbed “Miracle on the Hudson”.
The Hudson is as deep as 60 metres (200 feet) at points, and an Agence France-Presse correspondent saw what appeared to be flotation devices deployed on the helicopter’s skids.
The average temperature of the river is 8 degrees Celsius (46 Fahrenheit) at this time of year, according to the US Geological Survey.
“Three adults and three children were on board a Bell 206 helicopter that had left from the downtown Skyport at just about 3pm,” Adams said, adding that the tourists were a family from Spain.

Police and fire service (FDNY) divers raced to pull survivors from the wreckage, he said.
“NYPD divers pulled four people from the crash site, and FDNY divers recovered an additional two. Immediate life-saving measures were undertaken on the vessels at the scene, as well as the adjoining pier,” police commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
“Four victims were pronounced dead on scene, and two more were removed to local area hospitals, where, sadly, both succumbed to their injuries.”
The chopper took off around 3pm, flying south before heading up the Manhattan shoreline to the George Washington Bridge, turning back towards the downtown Manhattan heliport, losing control and hitting the water near a Hoboken pier, Tisch said.
The police commissioner said the aircraft was operated by New York Helicopter, which did not respond to a request for comment but lists the Bell 206 among its fleet.
There have been around 30 helicopter crashes in New York since 1980, Brooklyn Borough President Mark Levine told reporters, calling for tighter restrictions on helicopter traffic in the city.
Additional reporting by dpa


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Emergency personnel work at the scene of a helicopter crash on the Hudson River near lower Manhattan in New York on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Agostin Escobar and his family were killed on Thursday when their sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York. Photo: Handout via Siemens/AFP

Police and fire crews from New York and New Jersey respond to the scene of a helicopter crash on Thursday. Photo: AP

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The sightseeing aircraft broke apart in mid-air before falling into the Hudson River, with three children among the victims


The sightseeing aircraft broke apart in mid-air before falling into the Hudson River, with three children among the victims.


Aviation

United States

Spain

Tourism