A tourist helicopter carrying members of the family of Spain plunged into the Hudson river in New York, killing six, including three children.
New York helicopters chartered Chopper, who was carrying a pilot, two adults and three children, fell into the Hudson river by the Lower Manhattan in New York Thursday afternoon, the mayor of Jersey City, Steven Fulop, confirmed to ABC News.
The accident took place at 3:17 p.m. off the coasts of River Drive in Hoboken, New Jersey, just over 15 minutes after his departure from the Heliport Wall St. The helicopter reached the George Washington bridge before turning south and crashing, according to the authorities.
“Our hearts go to the family and those on board,” said New York mayor Eric Adams during the briefing.
In this screenshot of a video, a helicopter crashed in the Hudson river on April 10, 2025 in New York.
Avirbhawrakeshsh via x
The first speakers walk along Pier 40, April 10, 2025, in New York, in front of the place where a helicopter fell into the Hudson river in Jersey City, NJ
Jennifer Peltz / AP
The video of the accident showed the plunging chopper in the water without a tail rotor or a main rotor blade. Officials said he had struck inverted water.
Jersey City Medical Center, where the passengers were transported after the accident, tried as hard as possible, said Mayor Fulop at ABC News.
The New York Spanish Consulate is in contact with the authorities to collect and confirm the information and the identification of the persons involved in the helicopter krach, according to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs team. The authorities in Spain are also aware of the accident, according to the ministry.
Dani Horbiak told ABC News that she had watched the helicopter “fall from the sky” from the window of her apartment.
“I heard five or six noisy noises that almost looked like shots in the sky and I saw pieces fall, then I watched it fall into the river,” she said.
Rescuers and emergency staff work on the scene of a helicopter accident on the Hudson river near Lower Manhattan in New York on April 10, 2025.
Eduardo Munoz / Reuters
In October 2022, the file photo shown the helicopter that crashed into the Hudson river on April 10, 2025 in New York.
Maximilian Ruehmer-Junghardt
“I passed and the helicopter came down to an angle of 45 degrees,” said Eric Campoverde to ABC News. “Big Splash – It was very scary.”
“It looked like a sound boom,” said a witness New York ABC Station Wabc. He said he had seen “the helicopter separating in two with the rotor flying”.
In this screenshot of a video, the first speakers rushed to the scene of a helicopter accident in the Hudson river on April 10, 2025, in New York.
Wabc
Another witness told Wabc: “A propeller broke into pieces.”
The helicopter – identified by the Federal Aviation Administration as a Bell 206 helicopter – was on its sixth flight of the day. It was found upside down in the water at 50 degrees when the rescuers arrived at the scene, which was closer to the side of the New Jersey of the Hudson River, according to sources.
The Jersey City police service has been in investigation since the helicopter crashed on the side of Jersey City from the River, Fulop said in Wabc on Thursday.
Fulop said the city had already had concerns about air traffic on the Hudson and hoped that it draws more attention to their security problems.
Leah Sarnoff and Erin Murtha of ABC News contributed to this report.
