Family of five killed in horror NYC helicopter crash were celebrating a child’s birthday

The family, who were on holiday from Spain, have been identified as Agustin Escobar, head of the Spanish branch of the technology company Siemens, Merce Camprubi Montal, the granddaughter of former FC Barcelona president Agustí Montal Costa, and their three children aged 4, 5 and 11.

The horror crash also claimed the life of the helicopter’s 36-year-old pilot who has not been named.

The scenic helicopter ride, which took the family around the Statue of Liberty and over the George Washington Bridge before it plunged into the Hudson River, was on their first day of tourist activities in New York.

They had only just arrived from Barcelona and were on holiday to celebrate the birthday of one of their children, according to Spanish radio station RAC1.

The Bell 206 helicopter from the tour company New York Helicopter went up about 3pm on Thursday, local time (5am, Friday AEST), with authorities receiving reports of a crash at about 3.17pm in the Hudson River, just off Lower Manhattan, close to the West Village.

New York Helicopter owner Michael Roth told The Telegraph his employees were all “devastated” and the pilot who died had actually radioed base to say they were returning to the helipad before the crash.

“He 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,” Mr Roth told the publication.

He said another one of his pilots had flown over the river and seen the helicopter upside down in the water.

Mr Roth said the death of any human being is a “monumental disaster”.

Witnesses said they saw pieces of the aircraft come off as it “fell out of the sky”, including a blade.

Mr Roth told the New York Post that he had “no clue” what happened but from watching video footage could confirm the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter.

US President Donald Trump said the footage of the moment the helicopter plummeted was “horrendous”.

“God bless the families and friends of the victims,” he wrote on Truth Social.

He added: “Announcements as to exactly what took place, and how, will be made shortly!”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said it was an “unimaginable tragedy”.

“Five Spaniards from the same family, three of them children, and the pilot have lost their lives. An unimaginable tragedy. I sympathize with the victims’ loved ones at this heartbreaking time,” he said.

New York City mayor Eric Adams confirmed in a press conference earlier that “all six victims have been removed from the water and sadly all six victims have been pronounced deceased”.

Divers from the New York City Fire Department and New York City Police Department had been sent into the water as part of a huge rescue operation.

Kaz Daughtry, New York City deputy mayor for public safety, said he saw the “trauma” on the first responders’ faces and stressed they “did everything they can” and “really tried their hardest” to save the six people on board.

NYPD divers pulled four people from the crash site and FDNY divers recovered an additional two people.

“Immediate life saving measures were undertaken on the vessels at the scene, as well as the adjoining pier,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

“Four victims were pronounced dead on scene and two more were removed to local area hospitals where sadly both succumbed to their injuries.”

According to flight tracking software, the helicopter left the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at 2.59pm and flew south before turning to fly north along the Manhattan shoreline, along the Hudson River.

At 3.08pm, the helicopter reached George Washington Bridge, then turned south to fly along the New Jersey shoreline.

“Shortly thereafter the aircraft lost control and hit the water just a few feet off the coast of Pier A Park in Hoboken,” Commissioner Tisch said. “The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.”

Witness Avi Rakesh told NBC News he saw the helicopter going south toward New Jersey when “the chopper blade flew off”.

“I don’t know what happened to the tail, but it just straight up dropped,” he said.

“It dropped feet away from Holland Tunnel, and I can’t imagine if it hit it.”

Another witness, Dani Horbiak, told ABC News she watched the helicopter “fall out of the sky” from her apartment window.

“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,” she said.

The US’ Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

The location was close to the major Holland Tunnel that links the states of New York and New Jersey.

The area is extremely busy with both tourist and corporate helicopters — many flying at low levels.

At the scene there are scores of first responders with the fuselage of the helicopter clearly visible floating in the water close to Pier 40, a major recreational space in the city.

A video shows the aircraft, apparently without its rotors, falling upside down directly into the river. A huge boom can be heard as it splashes into the Hudson.

In 2011, two Sydneysiders died during a New York sightseeing trip also in a Bell 206 chopper.

Sonia Marra Nicholson, who ran a bar in the Sydney inner west suburb of Newtown, and her partner Helen Tamaki died when the aircraft plunged into the East River, on the other side of Manhattan island.

A major heliport serving New York is located on the Hudson River, close to the crash site, near Hudson Yards. Another heliport is located in the East River, near Wall Street in downtown Manhattan, which is also in the vicinity of the crash site.