A New York City sightseeing helicopter has broken apart in midair and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists, in the latest aviation disaster in the US, officials say.

The victims included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company, and three children, in addition to the pilot, a person briefed on the investigation said. The person could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Photos posted on the helicopter company’s website showed the couple and their children smiling as they boarded just before the flight took off.

The flight departed a downtown heliport around 3pm and lasted less than 18 minutes. Radar data showed it flew north along the Manhattan skyline and then back south toward the Statue of Liberty.

Video of the crash showed parts of the aircraft tumbling through the air into the water near the shoreline of Jersey City, New Jersey.

Video captures a helicopter crash in the Hudson River in New York City. – AP

A witness there, Bruce Wall, said he saw it “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and main rotor coming off. The main rotor was still spinning without the helicopter as it fell.

Dani Horbiak was at her home in Jersey City, New Jersey, when she heard what sounded like “several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air.”

She looked out her window and saw the chopper "splash in several pieces into the river.”

The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with “a bunch of smoke coming out” before it slammed into the water, said Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey.

On air traffic control radio, an NYPD helicopter pilot can be heard saying:

“Be advised, you do have an aircraft down. Holland Tunnel. Please keep your eyes open for anybody in the water.”

About five minutes after that, someone asks, “Hey Finest,” a reference to the NYPD’s call sign, “what’s going on over there by the Holland Tunnel?”

“The ship went down,” someone else responds.

Rescue boats circled the submerged aircraft within minutes of impact near the end of a long maintenance pier for a ventilation tower serving the Holland Tunnel.

Recovery crews hoisted the mangled helicopter out of the water just after 8pm using a floating crane.

The bodies were also recovered from the river, Mayor Eric Adams said.

Expert reacts to NYC sightseeing helicopter crash. – AP

The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officials said. No one answered the phones at the company’s offices in New York and New Jersey.

A person who answered the phone at the home of the company’s owner, Michael Roth, declined to comment. However Roth told the New York Post he was devastated and had “no clue” why the crash happened.

“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” the Post quoted him as saying.

He added that he had not seen such a thing happen during his 30 years in the helicopter business, but noted: “These are machines, and they break.”

Emails seeking comment were sent to attorneys who have represented Roth in the past.

The Federal Aviation Administration identified the helicopter as a Bell 206, a model widely used in commercial and government aviation, including by sightseeing companies, TV news stations and police departments.

Duffy said the FAA was also launching a Safety Review Team on Thursday evening. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy and a team from the board will arrive in New York on Thursday and plan to hold a media briefing on Friday.

It was initially developed for the US Army before being adapted for other uses. Thousands have been manufactured over the years.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the tour helicopter was in a Special Flight Rules Area established in New York, which means no air traffic control services were being provided when it crashed.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch speak to the media after the helicopter crash. – Reuters

Escobar worked for the tech company Siemens for more than 27 years, most recently as global CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, according to his LinkedIn account.

In late 2022 he briefly became president and CEO of Siemens Spain. In a post about the position, he thanked his family: “my endless source of energy and happiness, for their unconditional support, love … and patience.”

Escobar regularly posted about the importance of sustainability in the rail industry and often travelled internationally for work, including journeying from India to the UK in the past month. He also was vice president of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.

Camprubí Montal worked in Barcelona, Spain, for energy technology company Siemens Energy for about seven years as its global commercialisation manager and as a digitalization manager, according to her LinkedIn account.

Video of the crash suggested that a “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no chance to save the helicopter, said Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps.

It’s possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Green said.

“They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,” Green said. “There’s no indication they had any control over the craft.

"No pilot could have prevented that accident once they lost the lifts. It’s like a rock falling to the ground. It’s heartbreaking.”

The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights.

Manhattan has several helipads that whisk business executives and others to destinations throughout the metropolitan area.

Witness describes helicopter crash into Hudson River. – AP

At least 38 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York City since 1977. A collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed nine people, and five died in 2018 when a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights went down into the East River.

New York Helicopters also owned a Bell 206 that lost power and made an emergency landing on the Hudson during a sightseeing tour in June 2013.

The pilot managed to land safely, and he and the passengers – a family of four Swedes – were uninjured. The National Transportation Safety Board found that a maintenance flub and an engine lubrication anomaly led to the power cutoff.

Thursday’s crash was the first for a helicopter in the city since one hit the roof of a skyscraper in 2019, killing the pilot.

The accidents – and the noise caused by helicopters – have repeatedly led some community activists and officials to propose banning or restricting traffic at Manhattan heliports.

Other recent crashes and close calls have already left some people worried about the safety of flying in the US.

Seven people were killed when a medical transport plane plummeted into a Philadelphia neighbourhood in January. That happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington in the deadliest US air disaster in a generation.

A Jersey City resident described the scene at the Hudson River when a Helicopter crashed. – AP

History of helicopter crashes in New York City

• June 10, 2019: A helicopter pilot was killed when his helicopter slammed into the roof of a midtown skyscraper in heavy fog. The pilot was not authorised to fly in limited visibility conditions.
• May 15, 2019: A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River shortly after takeoff, injuring the pilot and a dockworker.
• March 11, 2018: Five passengers aboard a helicopter died when it crashed into the East River. The pilot survived. The chopper was a charter flight that featured an open door to allow passengers to take photos of the city's skyline. The pilot was able to free himself and was rescued, but the passengers were wearing tight harnesses that they were unable to remove. The incident led federal authorities to prohibit "doors off" flights unless passengers had quick-release restraints.
• August 8, 2009: Nine people died when a helicopter and a small plane collided in mid-air and both aircraft fell into the Hudson. Five Italian tourists in the helicopter were among the victims.
• April 15, 1997: Colgate-Palmolive executive Craig Tate died when the helicopter in which he was a passenger crashed into the East River off Manhattan. A total of four people were aboard the chopper, including one who was badly hurt.
• May 16, 1977: Five people were killed when a blade broke off a helicopter on a helipad at the top of a Manhattan skyscraper. Most of the victims died when they were struck by the blade, including a woman who was walking on the street below. The accident at the former Pan Am Building led authorities to ban helipads from Manhattan rooftops.