A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River off of Manhattan Thursday, killing all six people on board, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.
It was the deadliest helicopter crash in the New York area in years. The cause of the crash is under investigation, officials said. The helicopter was operated by “New York Helicopters,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said a press conference Thursday afternoon.
The helicopter tour company New York Helicopter didn’t immediately respond to request for comment. The company offers sightseeing tours and had one scheduled for 3 p.m. on Thursday, according to its website.
Some of the victims were a family visiting from Spain, officials said. Three adults, including the pilot, and three children, were on board the helicopter. Four of the people were pronounced dead at the scene and two more died after they were removed from the scene.
A witness’s video showed a helicopter plummeting to the river. Other video posted on social media showed a helicopter upside down in the Hudson River. An eyewitness told NBC New York that she saw the helicopter lose a propeller and that the aircraft’s nose pointed downward.
The helicopter was a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger, according to FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking site.
The flight path showed the helicopter taking off from a heliport on the southeastern tip of Manhattan, then flying up the Hudson River, getting up to an altitude of about 1,100 feet, and turning around near the George Washington Bridge, with last contact off of Hoboken, New Jersey, about 15 minutes after takeoff, FlightRadar24 data showed.
The helicopter’s flight records show it both taking off and landing from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport several times in the last few days. Such routes are common with sightseeing helicopter tours.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it will investigate the crash and that it is still gathering information. The Federal Aviation Administration didn’t immediately comment.
“Due to a helicopter crash in the Hudson River, in the vicinity of the West Side Highway and Spring Street, expect emergency vehicles and traffic delays in the surrounding areas,” the NYPD said in a post on X.
There have been several helicopter crashes around Manhattan over the years. In March 2018, a helicopter hired for a photoshoot crashed into the East River, killing five people on board, though the pilot survived.
In June 2019, a helicopter flying in heavy fog crashed into the top of a Manhattan office building, killing the pilot.