An entire family was killed when a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York, and more tragic details and eyewitness accounts are now coming to light.

Lacking fuel

On Thursday, a family of five traveling from Barcelona, Spain to New York City lost their lives when their sightseeing helicopter plunged into the Hudson River.

The helicopter lost control and crashed into the water a few feet from Pier A Park in Hoboken, just eighteen minutes into their sightseeing tour.

According to a recent update, minutes into the journey, the pilot radioed back to base to let them know that the helicopter was already running low on fuel.

Owner of New York Helicopter, a business that offers sky tours of the Big Apple, Michael Roth, 71, told The Telegraph that the pilot, who has not yet been named, had called the base to inform them that the group was heading back to the helipad.

Sadly, they didn’t make it.

“I have never in my life seen anything like that.”

The helicopter overturned in the water close to Spring Street and the West Side Highway in Manhattan, according to footage from the tragic crash.

Witnesses reported that before the plane crashed into the river, the rotor blades and tail seemed to separate in midair.

A witness claimed to have heard the helicopter “splitting in two” and making a sound “like a sonic boom.” The crash “sounded like thunder,” according to another bystander, who also remembered seeing “black particles flying” through the air.

BREAKING: Agustin Escobar, President and CEO of Siemens in Spain, along with his wife and their three children, were identified as the victims of the helicopter that plunged into the Hudson River in New York City on Thursday, according to the New York Post.

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Max, another eyewitness, told ABC News about the horrific crash and how he first heard about it before witnessing it firsthand.

Max recalled, “I looked up because it sounded like a sonic boom and saw a helicopter splitting in two with the rotor flying off in the sky. It was going so fast and it just went straight into the water.”

After that, nothing happened; it must have simply sunk. I waited here until, about five minutes later, the police and other personnel began to arrive.

“That is unlike anything I have ever seen in my life.”

A tragic detail

Agustín Escobar, a Siemens executive from Barcelona, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three young children, ages 11, 5, and 4, have been identified as the victims of the tragic helicopter crash in the Hudson River.

According to the Spanish newspaper El Diario, the family had recently arrived in New York City and was there to celebrate the birthday of one of their children when the accident happened.

However, the once-in-a-lifetime journey, which was intended to commemorate a child’s special day, ended tragically, with everyone on board dying.

Escobar, the global CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens for more than 27 years, and his wife, a global manager at Siemens, were both highly esteemed professionals. The trip, which was supposed to be a happy family outing with a picturesque helicopter ride that offered views of the Statue of Liberty, included their kids, ages 4, 5, and 11.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives,” Siemens said in a statement expressing their profound sadness over the loss. We send our deepest sympathies to all of their loved ones.

Since 1977, 32 people have passed away.

Meridian Helicopters, a Louisiana-based business that specializes in selling, leasing, and refurbishing aircraft, owned the Bell 206 helicopter that was involved in the collision. New York Helicopter, which has been providing tours for almost thirty years, was operating it.

“I have no idea how this happened. The only thing I can say is that my wife hasn’t stopped crying since this afternoon, and we are devastated. “We’re a small business,” Michael Roth, CEO of New York Helicopter, stated. “As a grandfather and father, we’re just devastated.”

Since 1977, at least 32 people have lost their lives in helicopter crashes in New York, according to the Associated Press. The most recent incident happened in 2019, when a corporate helicopter crashed into a Manhattan skyscraper’s roof, killing the pilot.

What a terrible tragedy. The terror this family must have experienced during such a horrific event is difficult to fathom.

They and everyone who knew them have my deepest sympathies. It serves as a sobering reminder of how swiftly things can alter.