NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) -- An NYC sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair Thursday and crashed into the Hudson River between Lower Manhattan and Hoboken, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists, identified as Siemens exec Agustin Escobar, his wife and three kids. Dive crews were still searching Friday for key parts from the helicopter.
HERE'S THE LATEST:
4:15 PM -- Officials ID all 6 victims of the crash
All six victims of the crash were identified Friday, including the family of five from Spain and the helicopter pilot.
They include Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, who had been a global manager at an energy technology company, and their three children, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. Mercedes would have turned 9 on Friday.
The pilot of the helicopter was identified as 36-year-old Seankese Johnson.
Johnson regularly celebrated his career milestones as a helicopter pilot on social media. In March, he changed his Facebook profile to a screengrab of him piloting a helicopter with a view of One World Trade Center and the Manhattan skyline in the background.
In the summer of 2023, he announced that he was flying a Blackhawk helicopter to fight fires for a Montana-based firm.
“Long hours and painstaking work to get to this moment. Thank you for all the love and support from those who’ve helped me get here,” Johnson wrote.
3:15 PM -- NTSB head says divers still need to recover key parts of helicopter
Jennifer Homendy, chair of NTSB, said at a press conference in Jersey City Friday that the agency had began examining wreckage but was still recovering key parts from the helicopter—and that it’ll be "quite some time" before any conclusions are reached as to the cause of Thursday’s crash.
“We do not have a preliminary cause,” Homendy said, emphasizing “we will not speculate.”
Ten investigators are working at the scene with support from experts at the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. "The wreckage examine began this morning, I was there," Homendy said. "Our team began pulling components and the engine off the wreckage, and other components that they'd like to more closely examine."
“What we are doing here is gathering the perishable evidence, the evidence that we need to gather for our investigation,” she said.
Homendy said things like maintenance logbooks can be studied later but that evidence at the scene must be recovered as soon as possible.
Dive teams were searching Friday for “components and pieces that we are still looking to recover,” including the main rotor, tail rotor, main transmission, roof structure and tail structure, Homendy said.
Asked how a helicopter could seemingly break apart in midair, as video appears to show, Homendy said, “I understand that is a significant concern and a question on everyone’s mind.”
“It is going to take time,” she said. “We need to do a very thorough examination of the wreckage to determine what occurred first and how that occurred.”
She said the NTSB is also aware of reports that a large flock of birds was in the area at the time.
Homendy urged the public to send any videos, photos or other information they have. That includes if “something struck you different” at the time, even if it doesn't seem relevant. “There’s no downside, please, in sharing that information with us.”
Witnesses can email the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov.
2:30 PM -- NY couple rode on helicopter days before deadly crash
A New York couple rode the same route on the same helicopter less than a week before the aircraft crashed into the Hudson River on Thursday, killing a family of five from Spain and the pilot.
“It’s shocking to think about that five days ago I was on the same exact one,” Jerry Klepadlo told 1010 WINS.
“I don't even know if shocking is the right word, but that's the emotion I feel is shock,” he said.
Klepadlo and his wife took the 25-minute loop over the Hudson to get a bird's-eye view of Manhattan.
“I have photos of my wife and I standing in front of the same exact helicopter with the same tail number, same LongRanger IV with the Roman numeral on the door,” Klepadlo said.
He said he was given the safety harnesses that the family was seen wearing in photos before their tragic flight.
He’s very grateful to be alive but deeply heartbroken for the victims and hopes investigators get to the bottom of the cause of the crash.
2 PM -- Tragic NYC crash hits home back in Barcelona
Condolences were pouring in Friday for the Barcelona family that perished in a helicopter accident an ocean away, from Spain’s prime minister to the company where the parents worked and the school where their children studied.
The family of five had meant to celebrate one of their children’s birthdays in the United States. Instead, a private helicopter tour of New York city turned tragic when the aircraft broke apart and plunged into the Hudson River.
The victims were Agustín Escobar and his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal, both executives at units of energy technology company Siemens, as well as their three children, a person briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press. Read more here.
1 PM -- NTSB to give updates at 2:30 p.m.
The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a press conference in Jersey City at 2:30 p.m. Friday to give updates on its investigation into the helicopter crash.
12 PM -- NTSB to hold briefing, asks for videos and photos
The National Transportation Safety Board—the U.S. agency investigating the crash—said it would hold a briefing Friday at a yet-determined time.
The agency also requested photos and videos from witnesses that they said could aid in the investigation. They can be emailed to witness@ntsb.gov.
9:45 AM -- Adams tells WINS helicopters play 'crucial role' in NYC
Mayor Eric Adams and FDNY Commissioner Robert S. Tucker spoke with 1010 WINS anchor Scott Stanford on Friday morning to discuss the latest on the crash.
Amid renewed calls for tourist helicopters to be banned, Adams said the aircraft "play a crucial role" in the day-to-day life of the city. "We need to find out what happened," the mayor said, "then we should look and have conversations around the use of tourist helicopters."
Asked if he feels safe on helicopters, Adams said he has faith in the safety of aviation and the professionals pilots but that like any flier, "when I'm on a helicopter from time to time, you feel the wind, you feel the turbulence, you feel the drop."
9 AM -- NJ mayor says family was celebrating birthday
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop wrote on X Friday that Siemens exec Agustin Escobar, his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal and their three kids had extended their trip to the U.S. and were celebrating Montal's birthday with the helicopter flight when the crash happened:
"A little context + I’m sharing this bc life moves quick + we don’t always think about the fact it is unpredictable + extremely fragile. On the helicopter crash. The Husband was here for a business trip + the family flew out to extend the trip a couple days in NYC. They were celebrating the mom’s 40th bday with the tourist helicopter flight yesterday. The kids were all 11yo and younger. The brother in law is flying in this AM + we are working with ME to expedite release of the family to fly back to Spain. Take a moment today + think about this family + your family. These situations are always very difficult + sad."
Fulop also said dive teams were expected to return to the river Friday to continue the search for major parts of the helicopter.
8 AM -- Victims include Siemens exec, his wife and 3 kids
The victims included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company, and three children, in addition to the pilot, a person briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press. The person could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The pilot hasn't been identified.
Escobar worked for the tech company Siemens for more than 27 years, most recently as global CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, according to his LinkedIn account. In late 2022 he briefly became president and CEO of Siemens Spain. In a post about the position, he thanked his family: “my endless source of energy and happiness, for their unconditional support, love ... and patience.”
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all their loved ones,” Siemens said in a statement early Friday.
Spanish regional government officials said the family resided in Barcelona. “(I am) dismayed by the tragic helicopter accident in the Hudson River in New York which cost the lives of six people, five of which were members of a Barcelona family,” Catalan regional president Salvador Illa wrote on X.
Mayor Eric Adams said the children were 4, 8 and 10 years old, and the 8-year-old's birthday was Friday. “So this is probably part of the normal tourist attraction of seeing the city from the skyline," Adams told Fox 5 New York. “But it’s just a real unfortunate situation. And our heart goes out to the family members.”
Photos posted on the helicopter company’s website showed the couple and their children smiling as they boarded just before the flight took off.
A person who answered the phone at the home of the company’s owner, Michael Roth, said he declined to comment. Roth told the New York Post he was devastated and had “no clue” why the crash happened.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” the Post quoted him as saying. He added that he had not seen such a thing happen during his 30 years in the helicopter business, but noted: “These are machines, and they break.”
7:30 AM -- What may have caused the crash?
Video of the crash suggested that a “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no chance to save the helicopter, said Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps.
It is possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Green said.
“They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,” Green said. “There’s no indication they had any control over the craft. No pilot could have prevented that accident once they lost the lifts. It’s like a rock falling to the ground. It’s heartbreaking.”
At least 38 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York City since 1977. A collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed nine people, and five died in 2018 when a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights went down into the East River.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.