A helicopter crash left a Siemens executive, his family and their pilot dead. Here’s what we know

CNN

By Hanna Park, John Miller, Taylor Romine, Aaron Cooper, Jeff Winter and Bob Ortega, CNN

(CNN) — A sightseeing helicopter plunged into the Hudson River on Thursday, turning a family outing above Manhattan’s misty skyline into a tragedy.

The helicopter carried six people, including three children and their parents – who have both worked for Siemens, a German multinational technology conglomerate. It lifted off from a Manhattan heliport and followed a familiar route: circling the Statue of Liberty, gliding north along the Hudson toward the George Washington Bridge and then turning south. About 16 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft crashed into the water, according to analysis by CNN and FlightRadar24.

Witnesses described the helicopter flipping and spiraling before crashing near the New Jersey shoreline upside down, scattering debris across the river.

“The helicopter was a little bit like nose down, slightly, and I saw the propeller separating from the helicopter. It kept spinning in the air alone. Nothing was attached to it,” Sarah Jane Raymond Ryer, who saw the crash unfold, told CNN affiliate WCBS.

A video obtained by CNN shows the rotor blades detached from the helicopter and flying through the air. “The videotape in this case is very dramatic and very important to the investigation,” former National Transportation Safety Board managing director Peter Goelz told CNN on Friday.

Eyewitness Avi Rakesh told CNN’s Jessica Dean that what was left of the helicopter appeared to be so out of control, he didn’t feel safe in his own building.

“Debris was flying everywhere. I was concerned that something might come and hit the window,” Rakesh said.

Here’s what we know about the crash that killed everyone on board:

A Siemens family and pilot among the victims

The victims include Agustín Escobar, 49, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, and their three children – two sons, ages 4, and 11, along with a daughter who was to turn 9 today. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the family was visiting from Spain, and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said in a social media post that the family was in New York to celebrate Camprubí’s 40th birthday.

“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,” a Siemens Mobility spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.

Escobar served as CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, the transportation solutions division of Siemens AG.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, expressed his condolences, calling the incident “an unimaginable tragedy.”

Camprubí was the global commercialization manager for Siemens Energy, according to her LinkedIn page. Siemens Energy is an independent company that was spun off from Siemens AG in 2020.

“We are deeply saddened and shocked by the loss of a colleague due to a tragic accident during vacation,” said a statement from Siemens Energy. “Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to the family, friends and colleagues of the victims.”

In addition to her international corporate career, Camprubí is known in Spain as a member of a prominent sports family. Camprubí’s grandfather and great-grandfather both served as presidents of FC Barcelona, one of the most popular soccer clubs in the world.

The pilot was identified as 36-year-old Seankese Johnson, according to city officials. He was certified to fly commercial helicopters since August of 2023, according to FAA records, and the NTSB noted he had completed 788 hours in the air.

A friend of Johnson, helicopter pilot Matt Klier, told CNN affiliate WABC he was “an amazing pilot.”

“He was just a super good dude,” Klier said, holding back tears. “I’m a helicopter pilot, we started at the same time. The man was an amazing pilot.”

What happened

The cause of the crash remains unclear, but its sudden descent stunned witnesses as first responders raced to rescue the victims.

The helicopter took off at 2:59 p.m. from Manhattan’s downtown heliport following a popular sightseeing route, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. After circling the Statue of Liberty, it flew north along the Hudson River, reaching the George Washington Bridge by 3:08 p.m. It then turned south along the New Jersey shoreline, where it lost control shortly after, Tisch said.

Visibility at the time was 10 miles, though the region was cloudy with winds of 10 to 15 mph and gusts up to 25 mph. A weather system was expected to bring light rain later in the afternoon.

At 3:17 p.m., multiple 911 calls reported a crash near Pier A Park in Hoboken, New Jersey. Witnesses said the helicopter appeared to stop midair before pieces broke off, consistent with preliminary emergency reports, Tisch said.

Jersey City resident, Ipsitaa Banigrhi, described the sound as “such a loud sound. It felt like thunder,” she told WCBS. “Then I saw black particles flying. Again, I thought maybe it’s just dust or birds, and then we heard all the emergency vehicles and sirens go by. I think that’s when it was like, ‘OK, what’s happening.’”

With the helicopter’s catastrophic failure in midair, there was no way to guide the aircraft to safety, a former combat pilot told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.

“There’s nothing that pilot could have done in that situation to recover the aircraft,” Brandt Anderson said.

First responders from NYPD and New York City Fire Department teams pulled six people from the water. Four victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and two others succumbed to injuries shortly after, Tisch said. Two children were taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where they were later pronounced dead, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said on X.

The aircraft’s main fuselage was retrieved from the river on Thursday evening, and dive operations continued Friday, according to the NTSB. The search continues for the main rotor, transmission, roof and tail of the aircraft.

Previous safety incidents

The company operating the helicopter was previously involved in two safety incidents investigated by federal aviation authorities.

In 2015, a pilot for the New York Helicopter Charter company was forced to land in New Jersey after hovering 20 feet in the air for a short time. An initial inspection showed there “may have been corrosion removed” from sections of the helicopter and that some of the helicopter’s component parts may have been deformed to an extent to be “considered unairworthy,” according to an FAA inspector at the time. The same helicopter was previously involved in a crash in Chile in 2010.

In 2013, a pilot for the company was forced to land a helicopter carrying four passengers on the water near Manhattan after hearing a “bang” that was followed by the “Engine Out warning horn.” The pilot inflated the helicopter’s floats and got the passengers to safety on a boat.

“The only thing I can tell you is that we are devastated,” Michael Roth, the CEO of the company operating the flight, told CNN of Thursday’s crash. “I’m a father, a grandfather and my wife hasn’t stopped crying since this afternoon.”

When asked about the helicopter’s maintenance, he said, “That’s something my director of maintenance handles.” The director of maintenance declined to comment.

Maintenance records are not publicly accessible, and the NTSB restricts what companies can disclose during an ongoing investigation.

“(The pilot) called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel, and it should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but 20 minutes later, he didn’t arrive,” Roth told The Telegraph Thursday.

Safety concerns raised about NYC helicopter flights

Concern about the safety of low-altitude helicopter flights in the New York City area has a long history.

“Helicopter operations in the Hudson River have been under criticism for many, many years,” former Department of Transportation inspector general Mary Schiavo told CNN.

At least 32 people died in helicopter accidents in New York City from 1977 to 2019, according to the Associated Press. That included a 2018 crash that killed five passengers in a “doors-off” aerial tour, which subsequently became more tightly regulated by the FAA. The victims in that case drowned after being unable to free themselves from their safety harnesses after plunging into the water, an NTSB investigation found.

“I am calling for a serious reevaluation of current policies and am urging the city to consider an immediate moratorium on non-essential helicopter flights from city-owned heliports while investigations are ongoing,” New York City Councilwoman Amanda Farías, chair of the council’s Committee on Economic Development, said Friday.

The Eastern Region Helicopter Council, a trade group that represents helicopter operators, says a ban would not be the right solution.

“The helicopter community is in shock and mourning after the tragic and horrific events of yesterday,” chairman Jeff Smith said in a statement. “Unfortunately, some well-meaning but misguided leaders are using this tragedy to exploit and push their decades-old agenda to ban all helicopters. Before taking legislative action, we need to learn more from the investigation.”

Aircraft details: A model with troubled history

The helicopter, a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV, was built in 2004 and held an airworthiness certificate issued in 2016 that was valid through 2029, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

Maintenance records are not public and during investigations NTSB rules prohibit companies from releasing certain information relating to the accident.

The investigation into the cause of the crash will pore over documentation on all the work that was done on the aircraft. That would include the company’s compliance with two recent FAA-issued airworthiness directives.

One directive from May 2023, required the testing and possible replacement of tail rotor drive shafts on eight different Bell 206L models, including the 206L-4. That directive was prompted by an incident in which a Bell 206L helicopter experienced the loss of a tail-rotor drive due to a joint failure.

The FAA also issued a December 2022 airworthiness directive on Bell 206L models with specific parts requiring inspection and possible replacement of the helicopters’ main rotor blades because of “delamination.” That refers to layers within the blade separating due to material fatigue, damage (from bird strikes, for example), or manufacturing errors, potentially leading the rotor blade to fail.

It remains unclear whether any of these issues played a role in Thursday’s crash.

Investigation underway

Both the FAA and the NTSB are investigating the crash. The NTSB has dispatched a “go-team” to the site to examine the wreckage and review maintenance records, it said on social media, and is asking the public to submit any additional video or photos they may have.

The helicopter was flying within New York’s Special Flight Rules Area in New York, where air traffic control support is limited, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a post on X. Duffy added that the helicopter had received air traffic assistance from LaGuardia Airport shortly before entering the uncontrolled zone.

CNN’s Mark Morales, Alexandra Skores, Andy Rose, Tim Lister, Matt Stiles and Audrey Ash contributed to this report.

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This story has been updated with additional information.