The aviation world is still reeling from a tragic helicopter crash that took the lives of a family of five visiting New York City from Spain.
On April 10, the single-engine Bell 206 helicopter that the CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility Agustín Escobar rented for a family tour over the city suddenly plunged into the Hudson River. The accident took the lives of both Escobar and his wife, their three children, and pilot and Navy SEAL veteran Sean Johnson.
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FAA says it will ‘continue to support investigation’ on fatal helicopter crash
On April 14, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that the helicopter company operating the tour, New York Helicopter Tours, is shutting down operations as it conducts a review of “the tour operator’s license and safety record” alongside the initial investigation launched by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
“New York Helicopter Tours — the company involved in the deadly crash on the Hudson earlier this week — is shutting down their operations immediately,” the FAA wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “We will continue to support @NTSB’s investigation.”
Video from the accident showed that the helicopter landed in the water in an inverted position and missing both a top rotor and a tail bloom.
Police and firefighters work on the site after a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River near lower Manhattan on April 10, 2025 in New York.
Image source: Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
The move came after New York Senator Chuck Schumer called on federal authorities to revoke the company’s operating license and limit or outright ban helicopter tours over the city in general. The call received immediate pushback from individual companies and trade groups representing helicopter operators.
‘The companies, not the pilots, putting profits over people’: Senator Schumer
“We know there is one thing for sure about New York City’s helicopter tour companies. They have a deadly track record, and it is usually the companies, not the pilots, that are openly manipulating (FAA) rules, cutting corners and could well be putting profits over people,” Schumer said at a press conference in which he also called for the FAA to conduct a larger number of ramp inspections. The industry term refers to unannounced inspections on the helicopter’s state and ability to operate before takeoff.
After leaving the navy, Johnson received his license to fly as a commercial pilot in 2023 and had more than 800 hours of flying time at the moment of the crash. Parts of the aircraft were still being retrieved from the Hudson River by divers on Sunday night.
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Immediately after the accident, New York Helicopter Tours CEO Michael Roth expressed his grief over the accident and the loss of the Escobar family.
“The only thing I can tell you is that we are devastated,” Roth told CNN on April 10. “I’m a father, a grandfather and my wife hasn’t stopped crying since this afternoon.”
The New York Helicopter Tours website currently also displays a front page which reads that the company is “profoundly saddened by the tragic accident and loss of life that occurred on April 10, 2025, involving one of our helicopters in the Hudson River.” The company has not commented further on the investigation or news of the shutdown.
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