The United States attacked a new aerial drama. A tourist helicopter was damaged on the Hudson River this Thursday, April 10. Six people died. A new disaster, just over two months after the collision of a plane and a military helicopter that killed 67 people in Washington.
A few days after this air drama, the worst in the United States since 2001, the accident of a small health plane in Philadelphia had left seven dead.
• Who are the victims?
The results of this drama on Thursday report six dead: a family of five Spanish tourists, including three children, and the helicopter pilot. “The six victims were out of the water. And unfortunately, they all died,” said the city mayor Eric Adams, during a press point on the river, from which we still see the leftovers of the plane.
“Terrible clash of a helicopter in the Hudson (…). The images of the accident are horrible,” the United States president Donald Trump wrote in his social social network, asking “God” to “bless” the victims.
According to Associated Press, among the victims were Agustin Escobar, leader of Siemens, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, world director of an energy technology company and their three children. The latter were between 4.5 and 11 years, complete ABC News.
• What happened?
According to the Mayor and the New York Police, a family of Spanish tourists and his pilot were aboard the helicopter chartered by one of the companies that offered to fly over New York with spectacular opinions about their skyscrapers and the statue of freedom.
An activity that succeeds among the millions of visitors to New York, but is criticized for its noise and pollution. The images of the local information channels have shown that the Bell 206 helicopter loses pieces and suddenly falls into the Hudson, which separates Manhattan island from neighboring New Jersey. The flight only lasted 18 minutes, according to the American press, including AP.
“We saw a helicopter and, like a small flash that cut the propeller, she broke in the sky. Once the propeller is broken, we saw the helicopter take a turn,” said a witness of the clash, beautiful angel to the AFP.
• An open survey
“We have received a call at 3:17 pm (7:17 PM GMT) for a water helicopter,” AFP said, a New York Fire spokesman. Police, on the other hand, said in X that a “helicopter was damaged in the Hudson River” and that traffic would be difficult in the area with the arrival of emergency vehicles.
According to the New York Police Chief, Jessica Tisch, the helicopter took off at 2:59 PM local from a helipad located in the south of Manhattan island. He stole several minutes before falling. An investigation into the causes of the accident was launched, he said.
• Questioned Air Surcourism
This accident could relaunch the questions about the very important traffic of commercial or tourist helicopters in New York. According to figures on the New York Times website, 32 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York since 1977.
In 2009, a helicopter that transported Italian tourists hit a small private plane, killing nine people. In 2018, another helicopter fell to East River, an accident that killed five people. New York has several assistants in the city, next to the Hudson River or the Strait of the East River that surrounds the island of Manhattan.
An agreement concluded in 2016 between the City Council of New York and one of the operators reduced the number of tourist flights from 60,000 to 30,000 per year and confined them in the rivers of airspace that surrounds Manhattan, with a mandatory break on Sunday. But with a minimum price of around $ 200 for a flight of 15 to 20 minutes, the experience is still attractive to tourists.
Source: BFM TV
