Latest news with #Bell206LongRanger
The Independent
19-04-2025
- The Independent
Three killed after small plane crashes into Nebraska river leaving no survivors
Three people have been killed after a small plane plunged into a Nebraska river, leaving no survivors. U.S. aviation officials have taken over an investigation into the tragedy after the small craft crash landed in the Platte River, south of Fremont, on Friday night. The plane was traveling along the river when it crashed into the water at 8.15pm local time. Rescue teams, using airboats, drones and a police helicopter, have been scouring the wreckage located about 37 miles (59.5 kilometers) west of Omaha, but all three passengers on board were killed in the incident. The authorities are contacting the victim's next of kin and investigations into the cause of the deadly crash are ongoing. In a statement, the Dodge County Sheriff's Office said: 'A small plane was traveling along the Platte River south of Fremont when it crashed into the river. 'The three occupants of the plane have been recovered and are confirmed deceased. Those identities will not be released at this time pending next of kin notification. 'The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will take over the investigation at this point.' Locals have been asked to avoid the area while emergency crews work at the scene. The crash comes after a family of five and pilot were killed when a sightseeing helicopter crashed into New York's Hudson River earlier this month. Divers were last week still salvaging key pieces of wreckage from the Bell 206 LongRanger, which crumbled midair and plunged upside-down into the water on 10 April. Agustin Escobar, 49, CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, global commercialization manager at Siemens Energy, and their children Agustín, 10, Mercè, 8 and Víctor, 4, all perished in the accident. The helicopter pilot was named on Friday as Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran. Separately, a family of six was killed last weekend when their plane crashed near Copake, New York, while traveling to the Catskills for a birthday and Passover celebration. The twin-engine plane they were traveling in crashed into a muddy field just ten miles from their destination, killing two young couples and their parents, Dr. Michael Groff and Dr. Joy Saini — each celebrated surgeons.
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The Independent
15-04-2025
- The Independent
Key pieces of evidence recovered in the wake of New York helicopter disaster
Divers have salvaged key new evidence following the horrific helicopter crash in the Hudson River last week, which claimed the lives of six people, transportation officials have said. On Thursday afternoon, the Bell 206 LongRanger crumbled midair and plunged upside-down from the sky into the Hudson River, killing a Spanish family of five and the aircraft's pilot. Now, the National Transportation Safety Board has recovered the helicopter's main rotor system, including the transmission, the roof beam, and the tail rotor system. NTSB revealed that divers secured the parts of the wreckage, and the evidence will be taken to a secure location for further examination. The rotor system is the rotating part of a helicopter that generates lift. It consists of a mast, hub, and rotor blades. In the event of an emergency, whereby the engine shuts down, 'most helicopters drive the tail rotor shaft from the transmission to ensure tail rotor rotation (and hence control),' according to the FAA. Agustin Escobar, 49, CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, global commercialization manager at Siemens Energy, and their children Agustín, 10, Mercè, 8 and Víctor, 4, all perished in the accident. The helicopter pilot was named Friday as Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran. The helicopter tour company New York Helicopter has since closed, following strict orders from the Federal Aviation Administration to cease operations. 'Key components of the Bell 206 L-4 helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River last week were recovered Monday, greatly aiding the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation into the fatal accident,' an NTSB statement read. They confirmed the recovery effort had been completed and encouraged any witnesses to come forward with photos or video footage. In 2013, a helicopter's engine failed with five people on board; another in 2015 resulted in a pilot making a 'hard landing' while 20 feet in the air. A preliminary report on the accident is expected to be completed by May 10. Anyone with photos or video footage of the crash or information that could be relevant to the investigation should email the NTSB at witness@
New York Times
13-04-2025
- New York Times
The Last Flight of Helicopter N216MH
Lionel Carles and his wife and young son arrived from Nice, France, on Wednesday with a list of things to see and do in New York City: St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Top of the Rock, Fifth Avenue. And, an exciting highlight — a helicopter tour of the skyline. Rafn Herlufsen, visiting from Iceland with his teenage son, made similar plans: a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, a helicopter tour later in the week. And Agustín Escobar, a Spanish executive with the technology giant Siemens, bought one of the longer flights offered by the tour company, New York Helicopter. Five tickets, for himself, his wife and their three children for a trip that would last 20 minutes and include a George Washington Bridge flyover. Each family arrived at their assigned time on Thursday at a helipad near the South Street Seaport for their flight with New York Helicopter. They listened to safety briefings and posed for photographs in front of the chopper they flew that day, tail number N216MH. By day's end, that helicopter would come apart in the sky and crash into the Hudson River, and one of those families would be killed, along with their pilot. The other two families would — stoically, awkwardly — tour the city, putting on happy faces while coming to grips with their own very, very close calls. An aerial tour along New York's famous skyline may be a visitor's once-in-a-lifetime thrill. But for a helicopter pilot, it is just another lap around a familiar track. Pilots had traced this path in this aircraft more than 1,600 times. The helicopter flown by those visiting families on Thursday was a Bell 206 LongRanger that had spent two years making short- and medium-haul flights all over Texas: Dallas to Lancaster, Austin to Denton, Denton to Wichita Falls. In November 2019, the helicopter arrived in New York City. Since then, it had logged over 2,600 hours in the air, most of it in segments of 10 or 15 minutes, hustling tourists up and down the Hudson River. The flights began or ended at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in Lower Manhattan near the seaport. A standard trip took passengers around the heel of the island, over to the Statue of Liberty, up the Hudson for a few miles, then back. The helicopter made the circuit over and over, as often as 18 times a day, with as little as three minutes between flights — barely time for the next smiling group to pose for a photo. Around the bottom, over the statue, up the river and back; around, over, up, back. The members of the French family — Mr. Carles, 54; his wife, Alexandra, 46; and their son, César, 7 — were ready for takeoff. The helicopter rose, and they all laughed, exhilarated. They soared over New York and the minutes raced by. 'It's a wonderful experience,' said Mr. Carles, a lawyer. 'It's one of the attractions, for us, that stands out when you're in New York.' For the father and son from Iceland, the trip was a celebratory one. The 14-year-old had recently completed a confirmation ritual that is a milestone in their home country. They are both big basketball fans, and they had seats at a close game Tuesday night, the Celtics beating the Knicks 119 to 117 in overtime. They had 'a huge itinerary of New York things,' Mr. Herlufsen said. Thursday was the helicopter flight, Mr. Herlufsen's second with the touring company, and the boy's first. Beneath sunny skies, they soared over the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and One World Trade Center. 'I love the city,' Mr. Herlufsen said. It was almost 3 p.m. The Escobar family arrived at the helipad. They smiled broadly for the photos the company took — Mr. Escobar, Mercè Camprubí Montal and their three children — Agustín, 10, Mercè, 8, and Víctor, 4. They met their pilot, Seankese Johnson, 36, who had flown helicopters since August 2023. He had been working for New York Helicopter for only a few weeks. They took off toward Lady Liberty, then up the West Side of Manhattan. After flying over the majestic span of the George Washington Bridge, the pilot banked and headed downriver along the New Jersey side of the Hudson. It was 3:09 p.m. The helicopter held its altitude of 1,100 feet and was heading south at 90 miles per hour, according to a data log on the flight-tracking site FlightAware. Yankee Stadium came into view on the left, then Grant's Tomb. It was 3:11. The helicopter — hugging the shore above Edgewater, N.J., across the river from the top of Central Park — began its usual descent back to the heliport. Normally, the descent is gradual. This one was not. In 51 seconds, the craft lost more than 500 feet. It was 3:12. Off on the left, the residential Manhattan skyscrapers of West 57th Street, Billionaires' Row, were now higher than the helicopter. The chopper appears to have climbed at one point as Mr. Johnson struggled to regain control. It is unclear, until more details emerge, what was happening inside the craft at this point — what the pilot was relaying to the ground, whether the family was panicked, confused, terrified. Beneath the helicopter, the river loomed closer. Passers-by in Jersey City said they heard a loud bang, and turned to see black smoke pouring from an aircraft overhead. At 3:15, just off a pier in Jersey City's waterfront Newport neighborhood, the helicopter dropped like a stone from the sky, parts flying off, flipping over as it fell. It plunged into the river. The radios that pilots use to communicate with air control squawked out updates. 'Be advised, you do have an aircraft down, Holland Tunnel,' an air controller said with brisk urgency. 'Please keep your eyes open for anybody in the water.' It had been less than 30 minutes since the family smiled for the camera. No one survived. Their pilot, Mr. Johnson, a U.S. Navy veteran, was also killed. Somewhere else in Manhattan, Mr. Carles, the French lawyer, got a text from a co-worker. 'Did you know about this crash?' He pulled up a news story, setting off a cascade of recognition. This happened right after we left. This was the same company we used. And then, squinting at pictures of the Escobar family posing in front of the machine and comparing them with their own photos. This was the same helicopter. 'There's no doubt about it,' Mr. Carles said. The group forged ahead with the vacation — a basketball game, a visit to the 9/11 Memorial. They didn't speak about the helicopter, even as happy photos from the trip — a son smiling beside the pilot — were saved in their phones. 'We drop the subject,' Mr. Carles said. 'We talk about something PG. We continue our vacation. We are very happy to be safe and sound, and we move on.' Hours after Mr. Herlufsen left the helipad with his son, his phone blew up. He too realized they'd been in the same flying machine. His son had been especially shaken by the ordeal. 'This is such a brush with mortality, difficult to parse at 14,' Mr. Herlufsen said. But the boy's father hoped to end their trip on a positive note. 'We have one more day left of our New York stay,' he said on Thursday, 'and I'm really trying not to have this overwhelm our 'once-in-a-lifetime' adventure trip.' The extended members of Mr. Escobar's and Ms. Camprubí's families sought words of comfort after the massive loss. 'They have passed away together, leaving an indelible mark on all their relatives, friends and acquaintances,' the families said in a statement. For those relatives, the week ended with an unthinkable task, flying to New York, to return the five bodies to Spain.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Sightseeing tourist helicopter broke apart midair before plunging into Hudson River: Full timeline
A sightseeing tourist helicopter has broken apart midair before plunging into the Hudson River, killing the family of five and pilot on board in the latest horror US aviation disaster. At around 3.15pm on Thursday, the Bell 206 LongRanger plummeted from the sky and crashed upside-down in the river that divides New York City from New Jersey off the west coast of Manhattan. Officials confirmed the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists, including three children, died in the tragedy, after FlightRadar24 showed the helicopter had taken off from Manhattan heliport on a sightseeing tour. Here is everything we know so far about the crash: A family of five Spanish tourists excitedly boarded a helicopter on Thursday afternoon to do a sightseeing tour while they were visiting New York. Photos posted on the helicopter company's website showed the couple and their three children smiling as they boarded just before the flight took off. The family along with the pilot took off in the Bell 206 helicopter from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at 2.59pm. To begin the tour, the aircraft headed towards a classic sight, the Statue of Liberty, before flying north along the west side of Manhattan up the river to the George Washington Bridge. It then turned south, flying closer to New Jersey. It was 16 minutes after taking off, at 3.15pm, that the helicopter went off the radar. Eyewitness reported hearing bangs like gunshots before seeing black smoke billowing into the air from a helicopter spinning uncontrollably down into the water. Dani Horbiak was at her Jersey City home 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, Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey, told The Associated Press. Jersey City resident Peter Park told The New York Times he heard a 'loud bang' and looked out his window to see helicopter blades falling into the river so close to the New Jersey shore that he feared they may strike people. Another witness, Bruce Wall, said he saw the aircraft "falling apart" in midair, with the tail and main rotor coming off. The main rotor was still spinning without the helicopter as it fell. Footage emerged on social media appearing to show the tail and main propeller separating from the fuselage while mid-air before the aircraft plummeted into the Hudson River near the shoreline of Jersey City, New Jersey, overturning as it was submerged. 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. Six people were also recovered from the river, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said. He confirmed that the family and pilot were all killed. Divers retrieved four bodies from the scene, while two of the victims were pulled from the water alive and rushed to nearby hospitals, but died from their injuries. The family was identified by officials as Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company, and their three children. Mr 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." Mr Escobar regularly posted about the importance of sustainability in the rail industry and often travelled internationally for work, including journeying to India and the UK in the past month. He also was vice president of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023. Ms Camprubí Montal worked in Barcelona, Spain, for energy technology company Siemens Energy for about seven years, including as its global commercialisation manager and as a digitalisation manager, according to her LinkedIn account. It is not yet known why the crash happened. Visibility over the river was not substantially impaired, the AP reports, and the water temperature was 45F. Video of the crash suggested that a 'catastrophic mechanical failure' left the pilot with no chance to save the helicopter, Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps told the AP. The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officials said. 'It's devastation,' the company's owner Michael Roth told The New York Post. 'I'm a father and a grandfather and to have children on there, I'm devastated. I'm absolutely devastated.' He said: 'The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren't on the helicopter. 'I haven't seen anything like that in my 30 years being in business, in the helicopter business. The only thing I could guess – I got no clue – is that it either had a bird strike or the main rotor blades failed. I have no clue. I don't know.' It is possible the helicopter's main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Mr Green said. 'They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,' Mr 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 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. It was initially developed for the US Army before being adapted for other uses. Thousands have been manufactured over the years. The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate. The crash happened on a stretch of the Hudson River, which separates Manhattan in New York City from New Jersey. The helicopter impacted the water closer to New Jersey, off the shore of Jersey City and Hoboken. New York Police Department officials said emergency responders were gathered near Pier40 on the West Side Highway and Spring Street in Manhattan to coordinate the city's response to the incident. Mr Adams urged residents to avoid the area while the recovery operation and investigation got underway. 'The team is on the scene at the heartbreaking and tragic crash in the Hudson River … Please avoid the area near Pier 40 in Manhattan in the meantime,' he said. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he was aware of the disaster: 'I have been briefed by law enforcement on the tragic helicopter crash in the Hudson River close to New Jersey. We are supporting the emergency response effort through the @NJSP, @PANYNJ, and local first responders.' New York Governor Kathy Hochul offered her assistance, adding: 'I join all New Yorkers in praying for those we've lost and their families.' In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board said they were leading the investigation into the incident. Donald Trump offered his condolences in a statement on Truth Social. The president wrote: 'Terrible helicopter crash in the Hudson River. Looks like six people, the pilot, two adults, and three children, are no longer with us. The footage of the accident is horrendous. God bless the families and friends of the victims.' He added: 'Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, and his talented staff are on it. Announcements as to exactly what took place, and how, will be made shortly!' The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights. Manhattan has several helipads from which business executives and others are whisked to destinations throughout the metropolitan area. 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 U.S. Seven people were killed when a medical transport plane plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January. That happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in a generation.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Last picture shows Agustin Escobar and family before helicopter crash
A Siemens executive, his wife and their three children died when a tourist helicopter they were in plunged into the Hudson River in New York. The family of five were on board the helicopter when it is said to have broken apart in mid air at around 3.15pm on Thursday. Their identities were later revealed as Agustin Escobar, head of Siemens in Spain, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal, and the couple's three children aged four, five and 11. The 36-year-old pilot also died. New York mayor Eric Adams said the flight began at a downtown heliport around 3pm, and the dead, including three children, had been recovered and removed from the water. The tragedy is the deadliest helicopter crash in New York City since at least 2018, according to the New York Times. A haunting picture of Siemens executive Agustin Escobar and his family has emerged shortly before they took off on the doomed flight. The tourist flight was said to have lasted less than 18 minutes before the aircraft started 'falling apart' in the sky. New York mayor Eric Adams said the flight began at a downtown heliport around 3pm, and the victims had been recovered and removed from the water. Read more from The Standard here The pilot who was flying the helicopter which crashed into the Hudson River reportedly made a radio call warning moments before the crash. Michael Roth, CEO of New York Helicopter Tours which provided the tour, reportedly said the pilot had called in to say that he was landing and he needed fuel but did not arrive. "We're all devastated. Every employee in our company is devastated," Roth said. Read the full story from LadBible here The Bell 206 LongRanger helicopter initally took off from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at 2.59pm, before heading on a tour that took it towards the Statue of Liberty, before flying north along the west side of Manhattan up the river to the George Washington Bridge. It then turned south, flying closer to New Jersey and at around 3.15pm was seen plummeting from the sky and crashing upside-down in the Hudson River. Find a full timeline of the crash on the Independent here In the aftermath of the crash, the victims were named as Agustín Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three children. Escobar was the president and CEO of Siemens in Spain, and his family were on a sightseeing trip after arriving in US, after landing from Barcelona earlier that day for a holiday. A photo also emerged of the family posing for pictures on a helipad before the incident. Read the full story from the Manchester Evening News here New York City Police Department (NYPD) confirmed officers were on the scene after a helicopter crashed in the vicinity of the Hudson River on Thursday afternoon, April 10. Local news reports said at least five people were on board the aircraft and three people were killed, citing officials. Footage filmed by Luis Hernandez shows the landing skids of the helicopter sticking out of the water and emergency responders on scene on Thursday, as seen from the New Jersey side of the river in Jersey City. Read the full story from Storyful here Eyewitnesses described the shocking scenes as the helicopter plummeted to the ground. One witness, who was running along the riverbank, described the crash as sounding like a "sonic boom", saying: "Literally I just see a helicopter splitting in two with the rotor flying off in the sky. It was going so fast. It just went straight into the water, like nothing came up afterwards." Read the full story from People here
