NEW YORK — New York Helicopter tours, the company involved in a deadly crash on the Hudson River is shutting down operations immediately, the the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The FAA also says they will continue to support the NTSB and will be launching an immediate review of the tour operator’s license and safety record.
Meanwhile, investigators still don’t know what caused the chopper to crash.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer urged federal authorities to revoke the company’s operating certificate until the investigation into the crash is complete.
“The FAA has to do more. They must get serious about a culture of safety across the helicopter tour industry and that overhauling safety standards of tour operators like New York Helicopter and Fly Nyon is where to start,” he said.
Recovery operations resumed after divers with the NYPD spent all weekend searching in the frigid waters for more wreckage from the crash.
So far, the cockpit, cabin and part of the helicopter’s tail have been recovered, according to the NTSB. Crews are using a sonar system to scan the sea floor for potential locations of other wreckage, including the aircraft’s main rotor.
Officials are seeking answers to the cause of the craft coming apart midair before plunging into the river off Jersey City on Thursday.
A family of five from Spain, along with the helicopter’s 36-year-old pilot, all died in the crash. The victims include passengers Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, and their three children, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. Mercedes would have turned 9 on Friday, officials said.
On Saturday night, the NTSB said the helicopter that crashed was not equipped with any flight recorders. The agency added, “no onboard video recorders or camera recorders have been recovered and none of the helicopter avionics onboard recorded information that could be used for the investigation.”
NTSB investigators met with representatives from the aircraft’s operator, New York Helicopter Charter Inc., to review operational records and safety management systems.
Officials say the accident helicopter’s last major inspection was on March 1. Before the crash, the helicopter had completed seven tour flights. The accident occurred during the eighth flight of the day.
Investigators have begun evaluating the flight control systems of the helicopter at a secure location.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was joined by Joan Camprubí, the brother of Mercè Camprubí Montal, in a press conference Saturday afternoon.
“They left together, they left without suffering, and they left with a smile on their faces,” he said. He said he wants to remember the family that way as well.
Camprubí said that this is a difficult time for their family, but they are grateful for the support they have received from Spain, Catalonia, the U.S., New York, New Jersey and Siemens.
The family wishes to move the bodies to Spain soon, so they can “rest in peace together,” Camprubi said.
Adams added that he had dropped flowers as a symbolic gesture for the lives lost in the helicopter crash, including Sean Johnson, who was in the Navy. “He fought to defend his county,” said Adams.
“Our words cannot bring back their family members, but it is out way of saying as New Yorkers we stand united with this family during this moment of grief,” Adams said. “Their grief is our grief. Their sorrow, is our sorrow.”
Meanwhile, investigators with the NTSB arrived in Jersey City on Friday to get their first look at the wreckage so they can begin to reconstruct the mangled helicopter.
Divers are searching the icy cold currents of the Hudson River, where aircraft parts, including the rotor and tail rotor, are still believed to be submerged in roughly 40 feet of water.
A Hoboken resident told our sister station WABC that he believes he discovered part of the doomed chopper — what looked like a seat cushion — that washed up along the Jersey City and Hoboken coast about a half mile north of the crash site.
Maxwell Steffen Cameron-Jones happened upon it on Friday night and called the police.
“It’s pretty hard to see that. Particularly a seat someone was sitting on when they lost their lives,” he said.
The crash was reported at 3:17 p.m. Thursday on the Jersey City side of the Hudson River. New York Helicopter Tours operated the helicopter.
The company released an official statement on Friday, saying in part, “New York Helicopter Tours is profoundly saddened by the tragic accident and loss of life that occurred on April 10, 2025, involving one of our helicopters in the Hudson River.”
“The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew has always been the cornerstone of our operations. Our immediate focus is supporting the families and their loved ones affected by this tragedy, as well as fully cooperating with the FAA and NTSB investigations,” the statement said.
The Bell 206 took off from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at 2:59 p.m. It went up to the George Washington Bridge before returning south along the river’s New Jersey side.
Dan Krauth has more on the flight path of the helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River.
A video shared with our sister station WABC showed pieces of the helicopter breaking apart and crashing into the water. Officials say the helicopter hit the water inverted, without a tail rotor or a main rotor blade.
Video shows the moments before a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River.
Who were the victims?
Agustin Escobar, an executive at Siemens, was in the New York area on business, and his family flew in to meet him for a few days, Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, wrote in a post on X. Photos on the helicopter company’s website show the couple and their children smiling just before taking off.
In a statement posted on the social platform X on Friday night by Joan Camprubí Montal, Montal’s brother, family members said there were “no words to describe” what they are experiencing.
“These are very difficult times, but optimism and joy have always characterized our family. We want to keep the memory of a happy and united family, in the sweetest moment of their lives,” he said. “They have departed together, leaving an indelible mark among all their relatives, friends, and acquaintances.”
The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who received his commercial pilot’s license in 2023. He had logged about 800 hours of flight time as of March, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters Friday.
In the summer of 2023, Johnson announced on Facebook that he was flying a helicopter to fight fires for a Montana-based firm. In March this year, he changed his profile to an image of him piloting a helicopter with a view of One World Trade Center and the Manhattan skyline in the background.
What may have caused the crash
The NTSB would not speculate on the cause of the crash so early in the investigation.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy acknowledged that the helicopter breaking apart mid-air is a serious concern, but stressed more investigation is necessary to determine why.
They are looking into witnesses’ reports of flocks of birds at the time of the crash and all other reports. The NTSB again asked members of the public with any information to submit pictures and videos to witness@ntsb.gov.
Homendy said the helicopter’s main and rear rotors, transmission, roof, and tail structures had still not been found as of Friday.
“We are very factual, and we will provide that in due course,” she said.
Justin Green, an aviation lawyer and former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, said videos of the crash suggest that a “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no chance to save the aircraft. It is possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free-fall, Green said.
“They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,” 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.”
Concerns about sightseeing helicopters
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.
Fulop said tours are constant and occur in a busy and heavily trafficked area. He hopes this will increase the dialogue and decrease traffic.
“Hopefully, this brings some more attention to it, that the fact beyond just noise, you have real safety concerns,” Fulop said.
Eyewitness News correspondents speak with Jersey City Mayor, Steven Fulop, on the investigation into the deadly helicopter crash in the Hudson River.
The FAA says they are temporarily halting all operations around the Hudson River crash site.
The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with planes and helicopters, 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.
NewsCopter 7’s John Del Giorno joins Mornings @ 10 to discuss the deadly helicopter crash investigation.
Some information from ABC News and The Associated Press
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