New York City Mayor Eric Adams said a tourist helicopter on Thursday killed all six people in the Hudson River in New York City, including three children and a Spanish family with pilots, said Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City.
According to the New York Times, the German -based technology company Siemens, an executive, was among those killed, Agustin Escobar, who cited anonymous law enforcement sources.
The New York City Police mentioned the requests to confirm that Escobar was riding on a helicopter for the American Coast Guard. The Coast Guard said in a statement that he did not yet have the names of the victims. Siemens did not immediately respond to the request of comment out of general commercial hours.
The video of the accident revealed that the river appeared as a large object, followed by a helicopter blade a few seconds.
Later, the emergency and police boats were seen circling around a patch of the river, where the helicopter was immersed, only the one who poured the landing gear of the aircraft above the water surface.
Bell 206 Chopper operated by New York Helicopter Tour on approximately 3pm ET (12am PKT) from New York’s helicopter pad, departed at 3PM ET (12am PKT) north of Hudson River, said New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tish.
It turned to the south when it reached the George Washington Bridge and crashed after a few minutes, reversed the water and drowned near the lower manhattan, which said at around 3:15 pm (PKT), Hobocaine, New Jersey, New Jersey, Tish.
Dani Horbik, a 29 -year -old resident of Jersey City in New Jersey, said that she was seen working from home and saw an accident from her window.
He said, “I saw my window here, and I saw the helicopter falling into pieces, and I saw many pieces falling down into the river, and I was thinking what happened,” she told Reuters.
“But I am keeping the pieces together, it seems as if I was probably smoking the propeller in something.” Horbik said she was “shaken” from the incident and later called emergency services, stating that he had already sent the respondents to the spot.
Divers helped the victims remove from water. Four were declared dead on the spot, while two others were taken to the area hospitals, where they died.
Bird’s eye
There is a crowd with helicopters in the an airspace around the Manhattan, offering tourists to a bird’s eye view, with at least two dozen operators listed on the tour website viator. Many operators also provide helicopter shuttle services for area airports.
New York Helicopter Tours, which offer the minimum flights as per person per capita on their website, did not immediately respond to the request for comments about the accident.
Transport Secretary Sean Dafi said that the tour helicopter was in a special flight rule constituency established in New York, which means no air traffic control services were being provided when crashed.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will conduct an inquiry, NTSB led the investigation.
Dafi said that the FAA was also starting a security review team on Thursday evening. NTSB President Jennifer Homendi and a board team will reach New York on Thursday and plan to organize a media briefing on Friday.
In 2018, five passengers aboard a helicopter died in New York when the aircraft crashed into the eastern river, while the pilot survived. The helicopter was on a charter flight with an open door to allow passengers to take pictures of skyline.
A police spokesperson from New York City said that police boats had assisted on Thursday’s rescue efforts.
Helicopter security has been a topic of discussion in the US Congress, when 67 people were killed in an American Airlines’ regional jet and army helicopter accident on 29 January.
The FAA has since been permanently banned helicopter traffic near the airport and has been reviewing the helicopter operations near other major airports.
