Ghastly Hudson Helo Crash Kills Siemens Global CEO and Family

Six people — including a pilot, two adults and three children — were killed after a tour helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey, on Thursday afternoon.

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Five of the victims have been identified as a Spanish family: Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three young children, The Associated Press reported. The pilot's identity has not been released.

Siemens is a German global technology company with a headquarters in Spain. Escobar's LinkedIn profile identified him as the Global CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility and showed he had been with the company in various roles for more than 27 years.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a news conference that at 3:17 p.m., authorities received multiple 911 calls about a helicopter crash in the Hudson River near the New Jersey coastline. The helicopter was inverted when it crashed, and the cabin was visible above the water. 

Beege Welborn

We've never seen anything like it - just catastrophic. No tail, no rotor - like the bird cracked apart in mid-air. This investigation is going to be something..

The whole thing's just horrible.

Beege ADDS:  Here's some more info from Fox, but I'll be honest - it makes even less sense now than it did before I read this. Holy crap.

New details have emerged regarding the final moments of the helicopter that plunged into the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey, on Thursday afternoon. 

The pilot of the doomed aircraft reportedly radioed about needing to refuel minutes before the helicopter crashed into the chilly waters, according to New York Helicopter Tour CEO Michael Roth, whose company operated the helicopter.

"[The pilot] called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel, and it should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but 20 minutes later, he didn’t arrive," Roth told The Telegraph

All six people on board – including five members of the same family – did not survive.

"The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter," Roth told the New York Post. "I haven’t seen anything like that in my 30 years being in business, 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."

MORE: Don't even know what to say. Gets more bizarre with every new detail.

The pilot of a helicopter which crashed into New York City's Hudson river killing him and a family of five on board has been identified as a Navy SEAL veteran.

Sean Johnson, 36, was formerly a gunner's mate responsible for fixing equipment, Gothamist reports.

He also previously worked as a celebrity bodyguard and had a stint working in TV. 

Johnson had recently moved to the city to begin his commercial aviation career, his wife said. 

 'I'm just at loss for words. I don't even know what happened,' Johnson's widow, Kathryn Johnson, told the outlet.

Her husband was flying the chopper when it plunged into the waters yesterday with a family of tourists aboard.

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