On Thursday, several 911 calls were made after witnesses saw a helicopter crash in New York City‘s Hudson River.
According to E! Online, the victims of that crash have now been identified as Siemens executive Agustín Escobar, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal and their three young children (ages 4, 5 and 11) who, per CNN, were visiting the city from Spain.
The pilot, who has not been publicly identified, also died in the crash, E! Online reported.
Here’s everything we know about the flight and its aftermath.
The aircraft broke apart midair and crashed into the Hudson River
According to CNN, the family was on a helicopter tour of New York City. The aircraft, which was operated by the tour company New York Helicopter Charter Inc., took off from a Manhattan heliport at 2:59 p.m. and followed a popular tourism route. New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch explained that after flying south, the helicopter turned north to give the family a view of Manhattan’s famous shoreline. It reached George Washington Bridge at 3:08 p.m. and after turning south to the New Jersey shoreline, it lost control.
NBC News reported that the aircraft broke apart midair and Tisch said it eventually entered the Hudson River upside down. The aircraft flew for only around 16 minutes before it hit the water, CNN reported.
Locals said the sound of the crash was unlike anything they’d ever heard before.
“It sounded like, like an engine just dying … and I just turned, I look, and I saw the helicopter crash and splashing to the water,” Dominick Cognata, who was walking nearby the crash, told NBC News.
After the crash, helicopters that were on air traffic control were instructed to look out for survivors in the water.
“Please keep your eyes open. You guys see anything in the water, please let us know,” an emergency response pilot said on the frequency, CNN reported.
Tisch said the police were able to get four people out of the water and the New York City Fire Department pulled out two people. Four victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and two passengers were taken to local hospitals for treatment.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop wrote that two children were taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing
The Federal Aviation Administration, along with the National Transportation Safety Board, are investigating the incident. The latter has taken the lead on the case and will provide updates as they come.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who’s also looking into the crash, shared in a post on X that the aircraft was in a special area in New York where no air traffic control services are provided. Minutes before they entered the area, LaGuardia Airport was providing air traffic control support for the helicopter.
The NTSB shared in a tweet Thursday that its chair and investigators were heading to the scene that evening.
“The NTSB is launching a go-team to investigate Thursday’s crash of a Bell 206 L-4 helicopter near Jersey City, New Jersey,” it wrote. “The team is expected to arrive tonight.”
Trump, Spain’s prime minister and others share condolences
Several officials have shared their condolences to the family and friends of those lost in the crash. Michael Roth, the CEO of New York Helicopter Charter Inc., told CNN on Thursday evening that he’s “devastated” about the crash.
“I’m a father, a grandfather and my wife hasn’t stopped crying since this afternoon,” he added.
When CNN asked Roth about the aircraft’s maintenance at the time of the crash, he told the outlet, “It’s my director of maintenance who deals with that.”
The company’s director of maintenance opted not to comment. The NTSB limits what companies under its jurisdiction can say publicly amid an investigation.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez shared a statement on social media, describing the crash as “an unimaginable tragedy.”
“I share in the grief of the victims’ loved ones at this heartbreaking time,” he wrote.
And President Donald Trump shared his condolences in a post on Truth Social.
“God bless the families and friends of the victim,” he wrote.
