Deadly NYC helicopter crash adds to tragic list of crashes in Hudson River
An entire family has died in a tourist helicopter crash in New York, but tragically it is far from the first time an aircraft has plunged into this infamous river.
The deadly tourist helicopter crash in New York was not the first aircraft to go down in the Hudson River.
On Thursday afternoon (Friday, Australian time), a Bell 206 helicopter “lost control” and crashed inverted in the river — killing a pilot and a family of five from Spain, including three children.
When New York City Mayor Eric Adams fronted the media, he said the tragedy was “almost reminiscent” of the well-known 2009 Hudson River plane crash but added, ”thank god we didn’t lose any lives back then”.
There were 155 people on board US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009, when it struck birds shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport, causing the engines to lose power.
Out of options, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger crash landed the Airbus A320 on the river.
Many were treated for hypothermia and minor injuries, but miraculously, only five people suffered serious injuries, and all survived.
The incident became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” and Tom Hanks played the pilot in the 2016 film Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood.
But there have been other aircraft crashes in the river — a popular sightseeing route — with tragic outcomes.
Later the same year as the “Miracle on the Hudson”, nine people died when a tourist helicopter and a small private plane collided mid-air and plunged into the Hudson River on August 8, 2009.
Everyone on board both aircraft was killed.
Another plane went down in the Hudson River in May 2016.
A World War Two-era plane — a P-47 Thunderbolt — crashed during a celebration for the American Airpower Museum’s 75th anniversary. The pilot, William Gordon, died.
Then in 2019, a charter helicopter crashed in the Hudson River near a heliport after refuelling.
The pilot (and only person on board) fortunately escaped mostly unscathed.
That helicopter was a Bell 206 — as was the helicopter that crashed on Thursday.
April 10, 2025: Six dead in tourist helicopter crash
Tragically, another aircraft crash was added to that list this week.
A pilot and a young family of five — two adults and three children aged 4, 5 and 11 — were killed in the helicopter crash in the Hudson River on Thursday afternoon, local time.
The family was visiting New York from Spain, and the father was identified as Agustin Escobar, head of the Spanish branch of the technology company Siemens.
The Bell 206 helicopter from the tour company New York Helicopter went up about 3pm on Thursday, local time (5am, Friday AEST), with authorities receiving reports of a crash at about 3.17pm in the Hudson River, just off Lower Manhattan, close to the West Village.
Six people were pulled from the water. Four were pronounced dead on scene and two were taken to hospital where they both succumbed to their injuries.
According to flight tracking software, the helicopter left the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at 2.59pm and flew south before turning to fly north along the Manhattan shoreline, along the Hudson River.
At 3.08pm, the helicopter reached George Washington Bridge, then turned south to fly along the New Jersey shoreline.
“Shortly thereafter the aircraft lost control and hit the water just a few feet off the coast of Pier A Park in Hoboken,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.”
Witnesses said they saw pieces of the aircraft come off as it “fell out of the sky”, including a blade.
Back in 2013, a sightseeing helicopter from the same company, New York Helicopter, was forced to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River after it lost power.
Fortunately, in that incident, the aircraft’s pontoons were deployed and it landed safely on the river. There were four people from Sweden on board and no one was injured.
According to news reports from the time, owner Michael Roth said the chopper recently underwent a thorough FAA inspection and he had “no clue why we lost power”.
He also said he had “no clue” what happened in Thursday’s crash, according to the New York Post.
Mr Roth said he was devastated and the death of any human being is a “monumental disaster”.
Fatal tourist helicopter crashes in NYC
There have been more deadly sightseeing helicopter crashes in New York City in the East River, on the other side of Manhattan Island.
Five people aged between 26 and 34 were killed in 2018 when a helicopter with an open door (for taking clearer pictures) crashed into the river off the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The pilot was able to free himself and survive, but the passengers got stuck.
It led to the Federal Aviation Administration banning supplemental passenger restraint systems on “doors-off” flights that cannot be released quickly in an emergency.
There was also a fatal chopper crash in the East River in 2011. A Bell 206 helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff for a New York sightseeing trip.
Three people died, including two people from Sydney, Australia.
The body of Sonia Marra Nicholson, a 40-year-old Brit living in Sydney, was pulled from the wreckage. Her partner Helen Tamaki, a 43-year-old Kiwi living in Sydney, died in hospital a week after the crash.
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