A family of five Spanish tourists, including three children, and a pilot were killed after their sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York on Thursday.

Videos on social media showed parts of the chopper – a Bell 206 – tumbling through the air into the water near the shoreline of Jersey City, New Jersey.

JUST IN: 6 people are confirmed to be deceased in the Hudson River helicopter crash, according to the Associated Press.

The chopper’s propeller was seen detached from the helicopter, spinning into the water.

According to a witness who spoke with NBC, the chopper blade just… pic.twitter.com/EMpWMJC9el

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 10, 2025

JUST IN: 6 people are confirmed to be deceased in the Hudson River helicopter crash, according to the Associated Press.

The chopper’s propeller was seen detached from the helicopter, spinning into the water.

According to a witness who spoke with NBC, the chopper blade just… pic.twitter.com/EMpWMJC9el

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 10, 2025

The helicopter took off around 3 pm from downtown Skyport and flew south before heading up the Manhattan shoreline to the George Washington Bridge, New York City police commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

It then turned back towards the downtown Manhattan heliport, lost control and hit the water near a Hoboken pier, Ms Tisch said.

“NYPD divers pulled four people from the crash site, and FDNY divers recovered an additional two. Immediate lifesaving measures were undertaken on the vessels at the scene, as well as the adjoining pier,” she said.

“Four victims were pronounced dead on scene, and two more were removed to local area hospitals, where, sadly, both succumbed to their injuries,” the police chief added.

Witnesses On New York Helicopter Crash

A hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey, told the news agency AP that the helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with “a bunch of smoke coming out” before it slammed into the water.

The wreckage of a helicopter is removed from the water after crashing into the Hudson River
Photo Credit: AFP

Another witness said it appeared like the helicopter’s rotor blade “shattered in the sky.”

“And after it shattered, then we saw the helicopter just spiral… And then it just crashed into the water just like that,” the witness told the news agency AFP.

Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps, told AP that the video of the crash suggested 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, Mr 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,” he said.

Donald Trump Calls Chopper Crash Footage “Horrendous”

US President Donald Trump called the crash “terrible.”

“Terrible helicopter crash in the Hudson River. Looks like six people, the pilot, two adults, and three children, are no longer with us. The footage of the accident is horrendous. God bless the families and friends of the victims. Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, and his talented staff are on it. Announcements as to exactly what took place, and how, will be made shortly,” he wrote on Truth Social.

New York Mayor Eric Adams called it a “heartbreaking and tragic crash” and said all six victims had been removed from the water.

At least 38 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York City since 1977.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 14-year-old post on X on Tahawwur Rana, accused of plotting the 26/11 terror attacks, has gone viral as the latter was extradited from the US and reached Delhi on Thursday evening. PM Modi, in his 2011 post, had criticised the previous Congress-led government’s foreign policy after the US “disgraced the sovereignty of India” by declaring Rana “innocent”.

In 2011, a US court had cleared Rana of a direct role in helping plot the attacks that killed 166 people, but convicted him for supporting a terrorist group blamed for the attacks.

“US declaring Tahawwur Rana innocent in Mumbai attack has disgraced the sovereignty of India & it is a “major foreign policy setback”,” PM Modi’s post read.

US declaring Tahawwur Rana innocent in Mumbai attack has disgraced the sovereignty of India & it is a “major foreign policy setback”

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 10, 2011

Also Read | 26/11 Attacks Survivor Recalls Horror, How He Escaped Death

Social media users shared the post and praised PM Modi for successfully extraditing Rana to India to face the law.

“A leader who walks the talk. Captain my captain,” one user wrote.

Another said, “You did it sir!! Kudos and thank you!”

Many users echoed the term “Modi hai toh mumkin hai” (If there’s PM Modi, everything is possible) on the post.

During PM Modi’s visit to the US in February this year, President Donald Trump had confirmed the extradition of Rana to India.

A special flight carrying Rana landed in Delhi last evening, soon after he exhausted all legal avenues to stop his extradition. He was sent to the custody of the anti-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA) for 18 days.

Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, had earlier worked as a doctor for the Pakistan Army. He is facing charges for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which over 160 people died. According to officials, he was aware of the terror attack and was in contact with the terrorist groups and their leaders in Pakistan.

Rana’s involvement in the conspiracy behind the 26/11 attacks was revealed by his childhood friend and a key accused in the case, David Coleman Headley – who said he was in constant touch with Rana and even took his permission to open a business office in Mumbai as a front for his activities. During interrogation, Headley had revealed that he had travelled to India five times between 2007 and 2008 and done recce for the Mumbai attacks – using a five-year visa that Rana had helped him obtain. He also revealed the role of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the Mumbai attacks and said he had opened an immigration company to hide his identity with Rana’s help.

Rana had also visited Mumbai with his wife and stayed at the Taj Mahal Hotel, which became a target of the attacks.

In 2013, Rana was sentenced to 14 years in jail but was released in 2020 on health grounds. He was re-arrested later that year after India’s extradition request.

A tragic helicopter crash in the Hudson River claimed the lives of six people, including a tech executive from Spain, his wife, their three children, and the pilot. Witnesses reported seeing the helicopter break apart mid-air before plummeting into the water near Pier 40.