A deadly crash within the Hudson River on Thursday turned the newest tragedy in an extended line of helicopter accidents round New York City, with excited vacationers turning to the favored attraction to get a novel vantage level of the Large Apple.
Elaina Latona was one of many numerous sightseers excited to absorb the views of Manhattan from the air. Latona was invited by her pal on a last-minute chopper experience over Manhattan on March 28, lower than two weeks earlier than the fatal crash.
“I used to be a little bit nervous about it due to all of the aircraft accidents which have been occurring,” Latona advised Fox Information Digital. “They gave us little tiny life jackets. And I even mentioned, if something have been to occur, how would this save me?”
PILOT IN HUDSON RIVER HELICOPTER CRASH CALLED ABOUT NEEDING FUEL BEFORE FATAL ACCIDENT, CEO SAYS
A helicopter is seen floating after it crashed into the Hudson River close to decrease Manhattan, on April 10, 2025 in New York, United States. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu by way of Getty Photographs)
The 2 associates boarded a helicopter in Decrease Manhattan and took flight, having fun with a scenic view of the town.
Two weeks later, Latona noticed reviews of a helicopter crashing into the Hudson River close to Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey and realized not solely that it was the identical firm she flew with, however it was additionally the identical plane she was on.
“I believed, ‘Wow, one thing might have gone improper’,” Latona mentioned. “It is actually unhappy that it did.”
As reviews poured in, Latona matched the tail quantity – N216MH – on the downed plane to pictures she had taken earlier than her helicopter experience. Latona mentioned nothing felt out of the extraordinary throughout her flight, besides that she “did assume the helicopter appeared a little bit older.”
6 DEAD, INCLUDING 3 CHILDREN, AFTER HELICOPTER PLUMMETS IN HUDSON RIVER
Elaina Latona boarded the identical helicopter that plummeted into the Hudson River simply two weeks earlier than the tragic crash. (Courtesy of Elaina Latona)
After what might be thought-about an in depth name, Latona is vowing to by no means board a helicopter once more.
“Earlier than discovering this out, I left saying I in all probability would get again on one, and now positively not,” Latona advised Fox Information Digital.
Investigators are nonetheless piecing collectively what triggered the sightseeing helicopter, chartered by New York Helicopter Excursions, to plunge into the Hudson River, killing all six individuals onboard.
The 5 passengers have been recognized as Siemens government Agustin Escobar, Mercé Camprubi Montal, an vitality expertise firm world supervisor, and the couple’s three younger kids, according to The Associated Press.
The pilot, whose identify has not been launched, additionally died within the crash.
PLANE CRASH NEAR MINNEAPOLIS SENDS HOME UP IN FLAMES WITH NO SURVIVORS ON BOARD
File picture of the victims of the helicopter crash in New York Metropolis, Thursday, April 10, 2025. The household of 5 killed within the tragedy included Siemens government Agustin Escobar, his spouse, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a worldwide supervisor at an vitality expertise firm, and three kids. The pilot was additionally killed. (New York Helicopter Excursions, LLC)
This map exhibits the approximate location the place a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River within the afternoon of Thursday, April 10, 2025. Six individuals have been killed within the tragedy, in response to the Related Press. (Fox Information)
New York Helicopter Excursions didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
The doomed chopper took off from a downtown Manhattan heliport at roughly 3 p.m. on Thursday, carrying 5 passengers and one pilot.
Roughly quarter-hour into the flight, the pilot radioed to crews on the bottom, alerting them that the chopper wanted to urgently return for gas. The kind of plane – a Bell helicopter 206 – can maintain sufficient gas for over two hours of flying and crews are uncertain as to why the helicopter didn’t have sufficient gas, Fox Information Digital has realized.
Nonetheless, the helicopter by no means returned to the touchdown space.
VIDEO SHOWS DC PLANE CRASH INVOLVING AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT, BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER
At roughly 3:17 p.m., authorities began receiving 911 calls concerning a downed plane within the Hudson River, New York Metropolis Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch mentioned throughout a information convention on Thursday.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the chopper’s rotor falling from the plane because it plummeted towards the water, spinning uncontrollably.
“The one factor I do know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the principle rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” New York Helicopter Excursions CEO Michael Roth told the New York Post. “I haven’t seen something like that in my 30 years being in enterprise, within the helicopter enterprise. The one factor I might guess – I bought no clue – is that it both had a chicken strike or the principle rotor blades failed. I’ve no clue. I don’t know.”
OHIO STATE HIGHWAY PATROL INVESTIGATING SMALL PLANE CRASH, PILOT DEAD
A crane vessel lifts the wreckage of a helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey Metropolis, N.J. (Seth Wenig/AP)
First responders from the New York Metropolis Police Division (NYPD) and New York Metropolis Hearth Division (FDNY) arrived on the crash website inside minutes to tug the victims out of the frigid water. Emergency personnel tried to manage lifesaving efforts on a close-by pier, however 4 individuals have been pronounced useless on the scene and the others have been pronounced useless at native hospitals.
New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams advised reporters the household was on a trip from Spain.
“We had over 65 million folks that visited our metropolis final yr, and simply give it some thought, you are on a trip, you are with your loved ones, you need to expertise New York from the sky, and one thing like this occurs. It is heartbreaking to everybody,” Adams mentioned.
SMALL PLANE CRASH IN BOCA RATON, FLORIDA KILLS 3, POLICE SAY
New York Metropolis isn’t any stranger to helicopter crashes, with six different incidents reported inside the metropolis since 2009.
A helicopter pilot and co-pilot survived after their plane sustained important harm whereas touchdown at a Manhattan helipad in 2021.
Two years earlier, a helicopter pilot survived after the plane went down within the Hudson River. Weeks later, a chopper used for government journey struck the roof of a Manhattan skyscraper, killing the pilot.
In 2018, 5 passengers have been killed after an “open-door” helicopter crashed into the East River.
SIEMENS EXECUTIVE, WIFE AND 3 KIDS ID’D AS HUDSON RIVER HELICOPTER CRASH VICTIMS
Police and firefighters work on the location after a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River close to Manhattan, on April 10, 2025 in New York, United States. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu by way of Getty Photographs)
In 2011, three relations died after a chopper plunged into the East River. Two years earlier, 9 Italian vacationers have been killed after their sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River.
In gentle of Thursday’s crash, lawmakers are calling for reform inside New York Metropolis’s airspace.
New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal is reportedly seeking to limit flights over Manhattan to legislation enforcement, members of the media and vital transport.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Hoylman-Sigal didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
Final yr, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed laws requiring a helipad on West thirtieth Road in Manhattan to be moved from Hudson River Park, citing security issues.
“We averted catastrophe presumably by simply minutes,” Hoylman-Sigal told ABC 7. “That’s the concern right here. Which is that if a helicopter will get in hassle in a densely populated space like Manhattan, the catastrophe might be far worse.”
Fox Information Digital’s Jacqliene Mangini and The Related Press contributed to this report.
