Hudson River Helicopter crash kills 5 Spanish tourists & pilot as chopper split into two before plunging off coast of Manhattan near Pier 40. Cause of crash unknown.
What went wrong? A helicopter crashed into NYC‘s Hudson River off the coast of Manhattan, near Pier 40, Thursday afternoon, killing all six people on board, authorities revealed.
Two adults and three children were on board plus the pilot, law enforcements told the nydailynews. The victims were described as family of tourists from Spain, according to ABC News.
Calls to 911 about the crash started coming in just after 3:15 p.m. Media reports citing NYC authorities confirmed that all six people died, including three children.
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Chopper seen splitting into two before plunging into Hudson river
Pictures and video posted to social media show pieces of the chopper, including the rotor, appearing to break off before the body of the craft falls out of the sky into the water.
The aircraft was a Bell 206 helicopter, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which will investigate the cause of the crash.
An FDNY harbor boat has gone to the crash site off Pier 26 in Tribeca although the crash happened closer to the New Jersey side of the river.
When crews arrived the helicopter was upside down in the water.
Eric Campoverde, 21, was admiring the scenery on his way home from work when he saw the helicopter rapidly fall out of the sky at a 45-degree angle and then plunge into the Hudson.
‘I was like, ‘oh sh-t’,’ he told the nypost.
‘It was going fast. It fell in seconds, like the motor lost power. It took seconds to fall from the sky,’ he added.
‘After the splash, the helicopter was above the water for a slight second but it submerged very quickly. It was maybe on top of the water for three or four seconds before it went under. It was fast.’
Footage of the helicopter that crashed in the Hudson River in Manhattan, New York, flying erratically before crashing. pic.twitter.com/bGA51Y57pg
— Breaking News (@TheNewsTrending) April 10, 2025
Hudson River helicopter crash, as an engineer the amount of single points of failure in a helicopter scares the shit out of me.pic.twitter.com/fHyGJ0ZaZb
— ✪ Evil Te𝕏an ✪ (@vileTexan) April 10, 2025
What caused helicopter to crash into Hudson river?
Other New Yorkers also witnessed the tragedy unfold.
‘I watched it fall out of the sky! I heard five or six loud noises that sounded almost like gunshots in the sky and saw pieces fall off, then watched it fall into the river,’ said Dani Horbiak, who saw the crash from her apartment window according to Eyewitness News.
Another eyewitness told the outlet that they ‘thought it was a sonic boom or something’ when he heard the noise.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said tours in the area are constant and fall within a busy and heavily trafficked area. He hopes this will increase the dialogue to decrease traffic.
“Hopefully this brings some more attention to it, that the fact beyond just noise, you have real safety concerns,” Fulop said.
It remained unclear if the cause of the Hudson helicopter crash was the result of mechanical error or human error?
Authorities had yet to release the identity of the victims.
At this time, all six victims have been recovered from the Hudson River and sadly, all have been pronounced deceased,” confirmed New York City Mayor Eric Adams, following the tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of three adults and three children.
Mayor Adams identified the victims as a family visiting from Spain. They include a business executive and an adult relative and three children, officials said. The pilot also died in the crash. Four of the six victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and two of them died at a hospital, officials said.
Police warned of traffic delays in the surrounding area near West Side Highway and Spring Street.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
At least 32 people have died in helicopter crashes in NYC since 1977 — most recently in 2019 when a helicopter used for executive travel hit the roof of Manhattan skyscraper in restricted airspace and the pilot was killed.
