A chilling video has emerged featuring the ill-fated New York City tour helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River on Thursday, showcasing the firm’s safety record.
The Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV helicopter disintegrated midair on Thursday afternoon, crashing into the river near Jersey City, New Jersey, with its occupants, a Spanish family of five and the experienced Navy SEAL pilot, tragically losing their lives.
The harrowing eyewitness video captured the helicopter’s main and tail rotor detaching from the aircraft, plunging into the water distinctly separate from the main body. The investigation into the crash cause is currently ongoing.
The ill-fated helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River on Thursday, killing six people, is featured in a video promoting the firm’s purported safety record. (New York Helicopter)
The Bell 206 was manufactured in 2024 and had already logged 12,728 hours of flight time when it was forced into repair back in September for a mechanical issue with its transmission assembly, the New York Post reports, citing FAA data.
In April 2023, the FAA issued two safety a for all Bell 206L model helicopters.
The FAA said it had identified a risk of tail rotor drive (TRDS) failure caused by a faulty bonded joint in the segmented drive shaft. The FAA recommended replacing any failed tail rotor drive with a compliant, serviceable part and prohibited the installation of non-compliant TRDS parts.
A New York helicopter worker is seen inspecting the engine and drive shaft. (New York Helicopter)
In one chilling video of Thursday’s crash, it appears as though the tail rotor had detached before the main rotor.
Michael Roth, the CEO of New York Helicopter Tours, told the New York Post he had not seen anything like it in his 30 years being 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,” he told the outlet. “This is horrific,” Roth added. “But you gotta remember something, these are machines and they break.”
The company released a statement saying it is “profoundly saddened by the tragic accident and loss of life.”
The Spanish family of five who died in the tragedy included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company, and three children. The pilot was also killed. (New York Helicopter Tours, LLC)
“At New York Helicopter Tours, the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew has always been the cornerstone of our operations,” the statement on the firm’s website reads. “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.”
It’s not the first time a helicopter operated by Roth’s company has experienced mechanical problems.
In 2015, another Bell 206 operated by the company was forced to make a hard landing while hovering 20 feet off the ground after taking off in northern New Jersey. In that incident, the chopper experienced a tail rotor driveshaft failure due to the reuse of a faulty part, according to the NTSB.
The part had been painted by a previous owner, making it impossible to tell whether it had been part of the helicopter during the earlier hard landing, the The New York Times reported.
The helicopter takes off after an inspection. (New York Helicopter)
Two years earlier, a Bell 206 operated by the company lost power and made an emergency landing on the water while carrying four Swedish tourists. The pilot deployed the aircraft’s pontoons and safely landed on the river.
Thursday’s tragedy has prompted Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., to call for the flights to be reined in or stopped altogether.
The crash followed a 2018 fatal incident when a tour helicopter tragically slammed into the East River, killing five passengers. That flight was operated by Liberty Helicopters for FlyNYON.
