‘It Was Spinning Pretty Fast’: Video Captures Deadly Helicopter Crash Into Hudson River

A helicopter shattered in midair and slammed upside-down into the Hudson River Thursday afternoon, killing all six people on board.

The incident took place just off the skyline between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront, according to The Associated Press. The New York Fire Department confirmed it received the first report of the crash at 3:17 p.m. Witnesses said fragments tore away from the aircraft as it plummeted.

Rescue crews arrived within minutes and searched the waters near a maintenance pier connected to the Holland Tunnel. A law enforcement source confirmed that Siemens executive Agustín Escobar and his family, who were visiting from Spain, were killed in the crash.

Four people died at the scene, while two others were transported to nearby hospitals, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Democratic Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said on X that two children were taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where they were later pronounced dead.

One bystander, Bruce Wall, saw the tail and rotor separate from the fuselage in flight, the propeller spinning violently as the chopper spiraled out of control. Lesly Camacho, who works as a hostess at a riverside restaurant in Hoboken, N.J., also said the helicopter spun wildly out of control before crashing into the water.

“There was a bunch of smoke coming out. It was spinning pretty fast, and it landed in the water really hard,” Camacho told AP in a phone interview.