Tragic end of a helicopter tourist excursion in the metropolis of New York: When the helicopter crashed into the cold Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan, all six inmates – three children and three adults – died. The misfortune has also replaced the discussion about the future of this very popular with tourists, but highly controversial helicopter excursions in New York, in which people have kept life in the past decades.
In addition to the pilot, among the dead are also a manager of the Siemens subsidiary Siemens Mobility, the 49-year-old Agustín Escobar, as well as his wife. Escobar was the head of the Rail Infrastructure division there. His office was in Berlin. His wife worked for the energy technology manufacturer Siemens Energy.
Both companies confirmed the respective identity of the victims. “We are deeply dismayed by the tragic helicopter crash, in which Agustin Escobar and his family died,” wrote Siemens in a message. “Our deeply felt sympathy applies to all relatives.”
The cause of the accident is still completely unclear
According to the US flight security authority, investigations into the cause of the accident are underway. According to New York’s Mayor Eric Adams, all passengers came to a visit from Spain after preliminary information and on a sightseeing flight over the metropolis when the helicopter plunged into the river before Manhattan for unexplained reasons. It was a family from Barcelona, the Prime Minister of the Spanish region of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, wrote in a post on the platform X. He also expressed his condolences. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also condolened to X.
How the crash came on Thursday afternoon (local time) was initially unclear. On video recordings and photos you can see how the helicopter is upside down in the air before it crashes. Michael Roth, whose company belongs to the helicopter for tourist round flights in the million city, told the British newspaper “The Telegraph”: “He (the pilot) reported and said that he would end up and that he would need fuel. It should have taken about three minutes to return, but after 20 minutes he was still not there.” The “New York Post” said Roth that he could only explain the misfortune with a bird strike or a failure of the rotor blades.
Eyewitness: helicopter fell like stone from the sky
Another helicopter of the company then set off and saw the crashed helicopter in the Hudson from the air. According to media reports, the company’s helicopters had been noticed several times with technical problems in the past.
Recordings spread on the Internet on which the cabin of a helicopter can be seen, which plunges into the water like a stone. It was therefore speculated that the helicopter could have broken apart in the air. Emergency services drove to the scene of the accident with numerous boats, but any help came too late for the inmates of the Bell 206 type.
Trump: “Recordings are terrible”
“The recordings of the accident are terrible,” said US President Donald Trump on the Truth Social platform. There will be more information on the cause and the course of the accident shortly, he announced.
The helicopter had started after 3 p.m. local time in Downtown Manhattan, flown around the southern tip of Manhattan and then along the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey. At the level of the northern end of Manhattan, he turned around – a few minutes later, the pilot apparently lost control of the helicopter, which plunged into the river near the bank of New Jersey.
Helicopters are part of everyday life in New Yorker
Helicopters belong to the New York cityscape and can be seen constantly in Manhattan. There are around 30,000 flights per year. Most of the time they have tourists on board or bring rich business people to their next appointment or residence at the gates of the city. Many New Yorkers are not only too loud, but also too dangerous. Again and again, after accidents, debates about security in the densely populated metropolis with more than eight million inhabitants and hundreds of skyscrapers broke out.
Helicopter may only fly with special permission over the center of Manhattan. Most pilots take off on the edge of the island and fly over the East River and the Hudson. Not far from the current crash site, a pilot had spectacularly landed on the Hudson in 2009, without anyone being injured. The incident made headlines worldwide and was later filmed.
Always accidents
A sightseeing flight via New York is part of the mandatory program for thousands of tourists every year. For many, the few minutes over the unique backdrop of Manhattan – for which they pay hundreds of dollars – are a highlight of the vacation. A number of companies also specialize in flights for business people.
However, many residents disrupt the high operation over the roofs of the city. In 2016, the city administration, which benefits from the business with dozens of millions of dollars, tried to make a compromise: the original number of 60,000 flights per year was halved.
However, accidents still occurred. In May 2019, a helicopter of the Hudson River crashed out of control. The pilot was able to save itself with a jump into the water. A short time later, a helicopter crashed into a high -rise roof and went up in flames. According to media, around three dozen people died in the past decades in helicopter accidents in New York.
