Newly released footage captures the heartbreaking moment divers and rescue crews recovered bodies from the Hudson River following Thursday’s deadly helicopter crash near Hoboken. The crash, which killed a family of five visiting from Spain and their pilot, has shaken New Yorkers and raised urgent questions about helicopter tour safety.
The video, which surfaced Friday morning, shows emergency teams navigating the murky waters as they locate and retrieve the victims. Crews worked late into the night, braving wind and rough currents, to pull the bodies and parts of the shattered Bell 206 helicopter from the river. The emotional scene played out near a Hoboken park, where the chopper crashed just feet from the shoreline.
Scene Of Tragedy Unfolds On The Hudson
The helicopter lifted off from the Wall Street heliport at 2:59 p.m. Thursday, offering a sightseeing tour along Manhattan’s skyline. According to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, it flew up the Hudson to the George Washington Bridge before turning south toward New Jersey. By 3:17 p.m., 911 calls started coming in, reporting a crash off Hoboken.
Witnesses described hearing a loud cracking noise before seeing the aircraft spiral and hit the water upside down. Video captured the rotor blades separating from the fuselage midair, indicating that something went quite wrong.
Mayor Eric Adams confirmed rescuers pulled all six people from the water and pronounced them dead. The victims included Agustín Escobar, a Siemens executive, his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal, and their three children, ages 4, 8, and 10. The family had traveled to New York to celebrate Montal’s 40th birthday. Pilot Sean Johnson, 36, was also killed.
Rescue teams somberly hauled bodies onto boats as investigators watched nearby in the footage. The video shows the gravity of the crash in a way words couldn’t fully express.
Michael Roth, CEO of New York Helicopter Tours, told The Telegraph the pilot had reported needing fuel just before the crash. “He called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel… but he never arrived,” Roth said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is now leading the investigation. Aviation analyst Jeff Guzzetti told NBC’s “TODAY” show the sudden nature of the crash points to a mechanical failure. “There was no chance for a mayday,” he said.
For now, the tragedy has left the families and the city searching for answers after a joyride turned heartbreakingly fatal.
