A family member of the five individuals who perished in a helicopter crash into the Hudson River, New York, has released a sorrowful statement.
Around 3:15 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, April 10, a sightseeing helicopter piloted by former Navy SEAL veteran Sean Johnson crashed after he communicated with New York Helicopters, indicating the aircraft required fuel.
Agustín Escobar, an executive from Siemens hailing from Barcelona, Spain, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three young children, ages 11, five, and four, were on board with Johnson when the helicopter broke apart, resulting in no survivors.
Merce Camprubi Montal’s brother traveled to New York City, laying a wreath near the crash site. Steven Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, confirmed that he arrived in New York on Friday to identify the bodies of his sister and her family.
Joan Camprubí Montal, speaking at a press conference in his native language, recited the names of the victims and said, “We will never forget you. We will keep your smile alive every day of our lives, and I believe that’s the best legacy we can give you.”
Michael Roth, the helicopter’s owner, recounted a conversation his team had with Johnson before the crash.
The 71-year-old shared with The Telegraph: “He [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.”
An eyewitness named Max recounted the incident to ABC News, describing the sounds of the crash and its aftermath.
He reported: “It sounded like a sonic boom so I look up and literally I saw helicopter splitting in 2, with the rotor flying off in the sky it was going so fast and it just went straight into the water.”
“Nothing came up afterwards it must have just sunk and that was it, and then I just waited here and like five minutes later we started seeing the police and stuff come.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” he continued, “For me I just thought it was going to be like city noise, like a crash or like maybe like a jet going overhead – I know that’s probably not common.”
“But yeah, just like a big bang on my right and then like a whoop whoop [making a helicopter noise] as you see the propeller like flying off like up way higher than the helicopter and just land straight in the water.”
“I’m not like [sure], maybe the tail separated? But I think definitely the rotor separated and the body went straight into the water, so some something must have happened with the rotor and it just flipped right off.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation into the crash.