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Search continues for wreckage of NYC tourist helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River
By
Liam Quigley
,
Stephen Nessen
and
Samir Ferdowsi
Published Apr 11, 2025
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NYPD
By
Liam Quigley
,
Stephen Nessen
and
Samir Ferdowsi
Published Apr 11, 2025
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Authorities are still searching for the rotors of a tourist helicopter that plunged into the Hudson River, killing all six people aboard, officials said Friday.
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy cautioned that the investigation into the Thursday crash was in its earliest stages. She was joined at the press conference by Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who said investigators were examining whether mechanical failure, a bird strike or a collision with a drone caused the chopper operated by New York Helicopter to crash.
The flight lasted around 18 minutes before the rotors detached, causing the fuselage to plummet into the waters off of Houston Street. The passengers were a family of five visiting from Spain. The father, Agustin Montal, 40, was an executive at the industrial company Siemens. His wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, also worked for the company and was celebrating her 40th birthday, according to Fulop. Their three kids were 4, 9 and 10.
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy cautioned the investigation into the tourist helicopter crash was in an early stage.
Stephen Nessen
Pilot Sean Johnson, a Navy veteran who had recently moved to New York City from Chicago, was also killed in the crash.
Federal investigators were examining the history of the pilot, the owner of the aircraft, safety protocols and the wreckage of the helicopter, Homendy said.
“I am not going to share a lot of investigative information. We have a lot of information, but we do not speculate,” she said.
Homendy said investigators have the helicopter’s logbook and that the pilot was properly qualified to fly the helicopter. He had 788 hours of flying experience.
The crash revived calls for the restriction of tourist flights in the city, with lawmakers and advocates calling the crash a “foreseeable disaster.” Homendy noted that her agency had issued recommendations for additional safety measures with tourist flights after five people died when their “open door” helicopter plunged into the East River in 2018.
As Homendy urged the public to contact her agency with any videos or other information about the crash, an expert told Gothamist two different scenarios may have caused the disaster: mechanical failure or a helicopter aviation phenomenon called “mast bumping”
Jim Brauchle, an ex-Air Force veteran and aviation disaster attorney who’s previously represented crash victims, said a mechanical failure could mean anything from poor chopper maintenance to a detect with the craft’s rotor.
“The big thing with these tour helicopter companies, you really have to look at their maintenance, the experience of their pilots,” Braucle told Gothamist. “Because those planes are flying, they're flying every day, all day long.”
In this scenario, Brauchle says the FAA needs more oversight on private tour companies like New York Helicopter.
“You just can't look at, ‘well, we haven't really, we haven't had an accident.’ That doesn't necessarily mean you're safe. Might just mean you've been lucky,” Brauchle said.
Another scenario that could have downed the chopper comes from a phenomenon called “mast bumping,” he said.
Mast bumping is generally either caused by extreme turbulence or abrupt maneuvers by the pilot. When this happens, a chopper’s two rotor blades tilt and effectively chop the craft’s body in half.
Given the weather conditions Thursday, Brauchle said turbulence likely wasn’t a factor in the crash. So that led him to wonder if the pilot made a sudden maneuver before catastrophe struck.
“ Maybe there were birds and the pilot’s trying to avoid a bird strike,” Brauchle said. “We've seen, drones, maybe he's trying to avoid a drone. And then also, you know, it's a tour, so you got paying passengers, maybe you're trying to give the passengers a thrill and give them an exciting ride.”
In 2009, Brauchle represented an Italian family who died when their chopper crashed in mid-air with a private plane above the Hudson River.
Tagged
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transportation
Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Samir Ferdowsi
Samir is a day-of reporter on the general assignment and breaking news desk. Previously Samir was a reporter, host and producer at VICE News.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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