NEW YORK: Six people including a senior Siemens executive and his family were killed when a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York.
The crash on Thursday killed all those onboard the aircraft: the pilot and the family of Agustin Escobar, the CEO of a unit under global tech firm Siemens.
Two of the victims were initially taken to a hospital but died later.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives,” Siemens told AFP on Friday.
US media reports, including from NBC News, identified one of the other victims as Escobar’s wife Merce Camprubi.
Siemens Energy, a former subsidiary of Siemens, confirmed to AFP that a “colleague” at the company was killed in the crash alongside Escobar and the pilot, without specifying that it was Escobar’s wife.
The bodies of all six victims — including three children — have been recovered from the water, Mayor Eric Adams told a briefing earlier after calling it a “heartbreaking and tragic crash.”
The helicopter’s landing skids were seen protruding from the river beside a tunnel vent as several boats clustered around the crash site.
Police from both New York and New Jersey, which is on the opposite side of the river from Manhattan, responded to the scene along with fire department vessels.
The NBC4 channel reported that its own helicopter was unable to take off because of weather conditions in New York on Thursday that were gusty with thick cloud cover.
A witness told AFP it appeared as if the helicopter’s rotor blade “shattered in the sky.” “And after it shattered, then we saw the helicopter just spiral… And then it just crashed into the water just like that,” said fashion designer Belle Angel.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement the aircraft was a Bell 206 helicopter.
“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate,” it said.
