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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), during a news conference Friday at Jersey City Hall, said “everything is on the table” and it was not “rul[ing] anything out” in its investigation into the fatal crash of a tour helicopter in the Hudson River Thursday. The NTSB will look into witness reports of a large flock of birds in the area before the crash.
The Bell 206 helicopter, flying for the tour company New York Helicopters, went down in the Hudson River near the Jersey City, New Jersey, coastline at about 3:17 p.m. Thursday, according to New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
New York City Fire Department (FDNY) and NYPD divers entered the water within minutes, pulling the pilot and members of a family visiting from Spain, including Siemens executive Agustin Escobar; his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal; and their three young children, from the water. All six aboard were pronounced dead.
Escobar was in the country on a business trip, and his family flew out to extend the vacation in celebration of Montal’s 40th birthday, according to a statement from Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. The children were all under 11 years old.
A file photo of the victims of a helicopter crash in New York City Thursday, April 10, 2025. The family of five killed in the tragedy included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar; wife Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company; and three children. The pilot was also killed. (New York Helicopter Tours, LLC)
On March 11, 2018, a helicopter operated by a different New York helicopter-sightseeing company, FlyNYON, crashed into the East River, killing all five passengers onboard.
Passengers were allegedly “unable to free themselves from the harnesses they were wearing,” resulting in a lawsuit settlement of $90 million, Fox News previously reported.
Richard Vance, the pilot, was using a standard seat belt and was the lone survivor.
The FAA and NTSB will continue to investigate the Hudson River helicopter crash.
Mayor Fulop confirmed in an X post a brother-in-law of the family that died in the wreck was flying into the country Friday morning.
“We are working with [the medical examiner] to expedite [the] release of the family to fly back to Spain,” Fulop wrote in the post.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
