Helicopter that crashed into NYC's Hudson River broke apart in midair, NTSB finds
The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report on April's Hudson River helicopter crash that killed six people.
The six-page report sheds new light on what exactly happened in the crash of the tour helicopter that killed a family of five from Spain, including three children, as well as the pilot.
Agustin Escobar Canadas, an executive at German industrial conglomerate Siemens, and his family were on a sightseeing tour when something went catastrophically wrong 18 minutes into the trip.
The victims of the Hudson River helicopter crash in NYC have been identified as Siemens executive Agustin Escobar and his family.
New York Helicopter Tours
What's in the report
The NTSB report offers a detailed timeline of the helicopter's flight and route. The Bell 206L-4 helicopter operated by New York Helicopter Tours took off from the Wall Street Heliport at 2:58 p.m., flew to the Statue of Liberty, and then flew up the east side of the Hudson River just past the George Washington Bridge where it turned around and started flying south along the Jersey side of the river.
At about 3:15, the helicopter was flying at an altitude of between 625 to 650 feet before it increased altitude to 675 feet before plunging into the river, the report says. The main body of the helicopter had moved side-to-side and the tail boom somehow failed, breaking off completely from the main body of the helicopter.
According to the NTSB's report, "several witnesses described hearing several loud 'bangs' emanating from the helicopter before it broke up and descended into the river."
CBS News aviation analyst and former NTSB chair Robert Sumwalt tells CBS News New York the fact that the tail broke off first could give investigators some clues to work on as to how the tragedy happened.
The helicopter came apart midair, report finds
The NTSB released a series of images it says shows the tourist helicopter breaking apart in midair before crashing into the Hudson River on April 10, 2025.
National Transportation Safety Board
The report says the helicopter came apart in midair in three major sections, including the fuselage with engine, the main rotor system, and the tail boom. The NTSB released a series of blurry images which it says shows the helicopter breaking up into those three main pieces.
The report points out the helicopter didn't have any video or data recording devices, but said pictures of the pilot just before takeoff showed he was wearing sunglasses that could record audio and video. Those sunglasses, however, have not been recovered.
What the report does not reveal is what caused that tail boom to break off.
Read the report
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