A young family and a helicopter pilot who was taking them on a tour of the New York skyline tragically lost their lives this week as their aircraft plunged into the Hudson River.

Agustín Escobar, his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal, their three children and their pilot died after the rotor appeared to fall off the helicopter and slice the tail, sending it spiralling into the water.

The young family, who had just arrived from Spain, had embarked on the trip to celebrate their daughter’s birthday with a tour around the Statue of Liberty.

But just 16 minutes after they were pictured smiling with the aircraft, harrowing video showed the moment it fell through the sky and into the water at 3.15pm on Thursday. 

It later emerged that the pilot had radioed in to base to warn that they were running out of fuel and would soon be landing just before the tragedy struck.

The horrifying crash is just the latest in the history of aviation disasters over the New York waterway, with several tourist helicopters meeting a similar fate in recent years.

The most famous plane crash in the Hudson was in 2009, when a passenger jet plunged into its icy waters.

Incredibly, thanks to the heroic efforts of Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger, all 155 people on board the flight survived.

While other pilots have bravely navigated crash landings on the river, not all have been able to save themselves and their passengers, with a number of flights ending in tragedy over the years.

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a helicopter crash on the Hudson River near lower Manhattan in New York, as seen from Newport, New Jersey U.S., April 10, 2025

Harrowing footage captured the moment the helicopter rotor blade flew off and splashed into the Hudson River after the deadly crash

The family were on vacation in New York to celebrate the birthday of one of their children, according to Spanish newspaper El Diario. Heartbreaking photos showed the Escobar family posing on the helipad and inside the aircraft before the crash

Agustín Escobar, a Siemens executive from Spain, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal and their three children, aged four, five and 11, took photos just before the crash

The family had just arrived from Barcelona and embarked on their first day touring the city 

‘Miracle on the Hudson’, 2009 

The skies above the Hudson River are often filled with both planes and helicopters that both fly private recreational, commercial and tourists flights.

At least 32 people have been killed in helicopter crashes in New York City since 1977.

But the most famous incident came in 2009, when a plane carrying 155 people crash landed onto the river following a bird strike and dual engine failure.

US Airways Flight 1549 was making a routine flight from New York to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on January 15, 2009.

It had been a clear day. Cold, at minus seven Celsius, but clear.

‘What a view of the Hudson today,’ Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger had remarked to copilot Jeffrey Skiles, according to National Transportation Safety Board’s report on the crash.

Less than a minute later, the plane and birds collided at 3,000 feet. Both engines stopped. 

Sullenberger took the controls and told air traffic controllers he couldn’t make it back to LaGuardia. 

His choices were a small airport for private aircraft in New Jersey – possibly too far – or the river. Sullenberger picked the water. 

The pressure was enormous. Not only were there 155 people on board – including the pilots, three crew and 150 passengers – but millions inhabiting the city below.

Captain Sully, a former USAF fighter pilot, counted down the last five seconds before touching down on the river at 3.31pm.

Passengers stand on the wings of a U.S. Airways plane as a ferry pulls up to it after it landed in the Hudson River in New York January 15, 2009

Rescue boats float next to a US Airways plane floating in the water after crashing into the Hudson River in the afternoon on January 15, 2009

Miraculously, all 155 people on board the plane survived the ordeal

The jet with more than 150 people on board came down into the frigid Hudson River off Manhattan after hitting a flock of geese

Passengers got out on the wings and inflatable rafts as commuter ferries raced to the rescue.

One flight attendant and four passengers were hurt, but everyone else was mostly fine.

The experience had ‘every single emotion you could ever feel,’ Michele Davis, of Olympia, Washington, told the Associated Press a decade after the crash.

‘And then, ending it all with ‘Wow, I’m alive’ and like this amazement and still kind of in awe. It took quite a while for it to sink in still. It seems unbelievable now,’ she said.

Sullenberger was hailed a hero for his decisive action in 2009. He retired from commercial flying a year later, going on to work as an international lecturer and aviation and safety expert for CBS News.

Helicopter collision with plane that killed nine, 2009 

In 2009, a sightseeing helicopter carrying Italian tourists collided with a plane over the Hudson River, killing nine people.

Officials said the helicopter crashed after being clipped by the plane’s right wing.

The plane, a Piper PA-32, took off from Teterboro airport on August 10, 2009 and reported engine failure before hitting the helicopter. 

Both aircraft split apart and fell into the river about 100 metres from the shore of Hoboken, N.J. 

One eyewitness said at the time the helicopter’s propeller detached from its body before it plunged into the river.

‘I just looked up and saw parts of the propeller in the air,’ said Alanna Duffy.

‘They were mangled.’

The wreckage of a helicopter that was hit by an airplane and crashed in the Hudson River is repositioned by a crane on a pier in Hoboken, NJ , on August 10, 2009

The wreckage of the helicopter that was hit by an airplane and crashed in the Hudson River on August 10, 2009

Both aircraft split apart and fell into the river about 100 metres from the shore of Hoboken, N.J.

A diver hands up pieces of debris that were found in the Hudson River, as seen from Hoboken, N.J., Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009

Buzz Nahas saw the collision from the shore in Hoboken, New Jersey. He described hearing a loud pop, like a car backfiring.

He added the helicopter ‘dropped like a rock’ and that the plane lost a wing.

The victims included 15-year-old Giacomo Gallazzi, as well his father Favio, 49, and wife Tiziana Pedroni, 44. 

The other tourists were 51-year-old Michele Norelli, and his 16-year-old son Filippo Norelli.

The Norellis were on a trip to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. His wife, Silvia Rigamonti, did not take the trip as she was scared by the helicopter.

The helicopter, a Eurocopter AS 350, was part of the Liberty Tours fleet which offers flights to tourists. 

Hero pilot who saved tourists after losing power, 2013 

A helicopter carrying a family on a sightseeing tour of the city was forced to land on the Hudson River in June 2013 after suddenly losing power.

The Bell 206 helicopter had taken off from the Wall St heliport with a family of two adults and two children from Sweden on June 30, 2013.

It was in the air for just 12 minutes before losing power.

‘Ten feet above the water, and it just went down. There was a huge splash,’ witness William Parra told the New York Post. 

The pilot ‘did a terrific job considering he’d lost his engine power,’ Deputy Fire Chief Thomas McKavanaugh said after the incident.

A helicopter rests on a pontoon at the 79th Street Boat Basin after an emergency landing over the Hudson river, Sunday, June 30

A helicopter carrying four Swedish tourists landed in the Hudson River off Manhattan

With great care, the helicopter was brought down on the river, remaining upright as it landed. 

No one was injured, but the children were taken to a nearby hospital for observation.

The brave pilot said after the incident that he was no hero, and was only doing his job. 

WWII-era plane crash that killed pilot, 2016 

William ‘Bill’ Gordon was killed when the WWII-era P-47 Thunderbolt he was piloting went down in the Hudson River on May 27, 2016.

The 56-year-old had been piloting the single-seat plane over New York as part of celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the iconic fighter.

The aircraft was said to have suffered an abrupt inflight engine failure while shooting promotional material for a nearby air show that weekend.

Federal investigators said later that an engine cylinder was damaged on the vintage plane and oil found on the engine’s exterior.

Scuba divers recovered Gordon’s body several hours after the crash, and the plane was lifted out of the river.

It emerged that Gordon was a father of two from Key West, Florida and a veteran air show pilot with more than 25 years of experience.

Officials remove a plane out of the Hudson River a day after it crashed, Saturday, May 28, 2016

Gordon (pictured here with the WWII plane) was a father of two from Key West, Florida and a veteran air show pilot

The World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river, killing its pilot

Scott Clyman, flight operations pilot for the American Airpower Museum, called Gordon ‘an extraordinary pilot who understood the powerful message our aircraft represent in telling the story of American courage and valor’.

Clyman told fellow mourners at a service Saturday that Gordon had always been fascinated by World War II fighter planes ‘and he quickly demonstrated the skill to master these demanding aircraft.’

‘If anyone could have landed that on the water short of Chesley Sullenberger, I’m here to tell you it’s him. I rode with him for years,’ his stepbrother Fred Schneeberger told the New York Daily News.

The P47-Thunderbolts were the heaviest single-engine fighter planes used by Allied forces in World War II. 

They first went into service in 1942, with the 56th Fighter Group based on Long Island.

The one that crashed in the river flew periodically, including to other air shows, said Gary Lewi, spokesperson for the American Airpower Museum.

East River helicopter crash that killed five, 2018 

Beyond the Statue of Liberty, the Upper Bay in New York forks into the Hudson river, to the north, and the ‘East River’ estuary, to the east.

The most recent crash happened in 2018 when a helicopter crashed into the East River, leaving five passengers dead.

The Eurocopter AS350 crashed on March 11, 2018 when the tail of the aircraft got caught on the fuel shutoff lever, the NTSB said.

All the passengers on board tragically drowned. 

They were identified as Daniel Thompson, 34, Tristian Hill, 29, Trevor Cadigan, 26, Brian McDaniel, 26, and Carla Vallejos-Blanco, 29.

Pilot Richard Vance, 33, escaped the crash moments after impact, but the passengers were trapped inside, unable to escape from their safety harnesses as the helicopter flipped and sank, police said. 

Thompson was president of the non-profit organization Young New Yorkers’ Chorus, where he had performed since 2008 as a member of the mixed ensemble. 

A helicopter is hoisted by crane from the East River onto a barge, Monday, March 12, 2018, in New York. The pilot was able to escape the crash after the aircraft flipped upside down

The Eurocopter AS350 crashed on March 11, 2018 when the tail of the aircraft got caught on the fuel shutoff lever

In this photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators examine part of a helicopter Monday, March 12, 2018, that crashed into New York’s East River

Hill moved to the city a few months ago to work as the director of operations at sightseeing company SightSy. 

Cadigan was a journalist and his friend McDaniel was visiting him from Dallas, where he worked as a firefighter.

Vallejos-Blanco was a tourist from Argentina, Hill worked for a sightseeing startup and Thompson was a chorus singer.

Divers searching the crash site found the passengers still strapped into their tight-fitting harnesses. 

The harnesses, which had kept them safe while they were in the air, ultimately prevented their escape, the New York City Fire Department said.

Rescue divers found them dozens of feet below below the water inside the capsized chopper, said FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro.

‘It took a while for the divers to get these people out. They worked very quickly, as fast as they could,’ Nigro said. ‘It was a great tragedy that we had here.’

The water temperature was just three degrees Celsius (39F) at the time of the crash. 

Two passengers died at the scene and three were transported to hospitals in critical condition, said FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro. 

Those three were all pronounced dead in the hospital, fire officials said. 

The helicopter crashed into the water around 7.06pm near East 90th Street and Roosevelt Island, in the waters just off of Gracie Mansion.