The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the Hudson River helicopter crash that killed six people in April, including Siemens executive Agustin Escobar Canadas of Spain and his family. The report reveals that the copter came apart in midair before plunging into the river, but does not reveal what caused the initial failure: the tail boom failed and then broke off completely, dooming the flight, CBS News reports. The helicopter, operated by New York Helicopter Tours, left the Wall Street Heliport at 2:58pm and followed a sightseeing route along Manhattan's skyline, flying past the Statue of Liberty and up to the George Washington Bridge before heading south along the New Jersey side of the river.
About 18 minutes into the tour, the Bell 206L-4 reached about 675 feet before plunging into the river. According to witnesses cited in the report, several loud "bangs" were heard before the aircraft began breaking up in midair. The NTSB found that the helicopter separated into three main sections—the fuselage and engine, the rotor, and the tail boom. The report includes images from the NTSB showing the helicopter in the process of breaking apart above the Hudson. It also notes that there were no flight data or cockpit voice recorders on board. Investigators did find photos of the pilot wearing sunglasses capable of recording video and audio, but those sunglasses have not been found. The pilot, who was killed in the crash, was on his eighth tour of the day—his first day back following 10 days off as part of a 10 on/10 off rotation, People reports. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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