The CEO of New York Helicopter has expressed profound sorrow following the crash of one of their touring helicopters into the Hudson River, an incident that resulted in the loss of all six passengers onboard.
The crash occurred yesterday, April 10, at approximately 3:15 pm Eastern Time. A Bell 206 LongRanger helicopter, which had taken off from a Manhattan heliport for a sightseeing tour, went down in the Hudson River, New York City.
Emergency responders quickly arrived at the scene, and divers were able to retrieve four individuals from the water. Tragically, even though two were initially found alive, they succumbed to their injuries. Ultimately, all six occupants of the helicopter perished.
The victims have been identified as a Spanish family consisting of two adults—Siemens executive Agustin Escobar and his wife, global manager at an energy technology company, Mercè Camprubí Montal—and their three children. The identity of the helicopter’s pilot has not yet been released by officials.
Michael Roth, the owner of New York Helicopter and the aircraft involved, shared with The Telegraph that the pilot had “called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel” and was supposed to return to the helipad. Unfortunately, the helicopter did not make it back.
Roth, aged 71, stated: “It should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but 20 minutes later, he didn’t arrive.”
“I got a call from my manager and my downtown heliport and she said she heard there was a crash, and then my phone blew up from everybody,” he continued. “Then one of my pilots flew over the Hudson and saw the helicopter upside down.”
Roth noted that “every employee in [the] company is devastated” and his “wife has not stopped crying.”
He concluded, “We’re all devastated. […] The death of the child of any human being, is a monumental disaster.”
Since the incident, New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal has advocated for a prohibition on sightseeing helicopter tours.
As reported by ABC 7 New York, he stated: “We averted disaster possibly by just minutes. And that is the concern here. Which is if a helicopter gets in trouble in a densely populated area like Manhattan, the disaster could be far worse.
“There’s no reason to allow tourists and tour flight operators to use our valuable precious airspace.
“The danger is that FAA regulates airspace above 500 feet, so the city and state are prohibited from passing laws that make tourist choppers safer.”
The New York City Fire Department announced on Twitter that the National Transportation Safety Board and the FBI are conducting an investigation into the cause of the crash.
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