Rescue employees and emergency personnel work on the scene of a helicopter crash on the Hudson River near lower Manhattan in Latest York, U.S., as seen from Newport, Latest Jersey, April 10, 2025.Â
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
A sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River off of Manhattan Thursday, killing all six people on board. It was the deadliest helicopter crash around Latest York City in years.
Agustin Escobar, the CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, his wife and three children, all visiting from Europe, and the pilot of the helicopter died within the crash.
“We’re deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash wherein Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives,” Siemens said in an announcement.
4 of the victims were pronounced dead on the scene and two more died after they were faraway from the scene.
The reason for the crash is under investigation, officials said. The helicopter was operated by “Latest York Helicopters,” Latest York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said a press conference Thursday afternoon.
The helicopter tour company Latest York Helicopter didn’t immediately reply to request for comment. The corporate offers sightseeing tours and had one scheduled for 3 p.m. on Thursday, in accordance with its website.
First responders walk along Pier 40, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Latest York, across from where a helicopter went down within the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J.
Jennifer Peltz |Â AP
A witness’s video showed a helicopter plummeting to the river. Other video posted on social media showed a helicopter the wrong way up within the Hudson River. An eyewitness told NBC Latest York that she saw the helicopter lose a propeller and that the aircraft’s nose pointed downward.
The helicopter was a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger, in accordance with FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking site.
The flight path showed the helicopter taking off from a heliport on the southeastern tip of Manhattan, then flying up the Hudson River, getting as much as an altitude of about 1,100 feet, and turning around near the George Washington Bridge, with last contact off of Hoboken, Latest Jersey, about quarter-hour after takeoff, FlightRadar24 data showed.
The helicopter’s flight records show it each taking off and landing from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport several times in the previous few days. Such routes are common with sightseeing helicopter tours.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it’s going to investigate the crash and that it remains to be gathering information. The Federal Aviation Administration didn’t immediately comment.
“Attributable to a helicopter crash within the Hudson River, within the vicinity of the West Side Highway and Spring Street, expect emergency vehicles and traffic delays in the encompassing areas,” the NYPD said in a post on X.
There have been several helicopter crashes around Manhattan over time. In March 2018, a helicopter hired for a photoshoot crashed into the East River, killing five people on board, though the pilot survived.
In June 2019, a helicopter flying in heavy fog crashed into the highest of a Manhattan office constructing, killing the pilot.
