A relative of the family-of-five who tragically died when the helicopter they were riding in crashed into the Hudson River, New York, has issued a heartbreaking statement.
At around 3.15pm Eastern Time on Thursday (April 10), a sightseeing chopper operated by former Navy SEAL veteran Sean Johnson crashed shortly after he radioed in to his colleagues at New York Helicopters to explain that the aircraft needed fuel.
Siemens executive Agustín Escobar, of Barcelona, Spain, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three children aged 11, five and four, were onboard, alongside pilot Johnson when the chopper 'split in two', with none surviving the ordeal.
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Now, Montal's brother visited New York City to lay a wreath down near the crash site, with Jersey City, New Jersey, mayor Steven Fulop confirming that he had flown in to New York on Friday to identify his sister's body, and that of her family members.
Joan Camprubí Montal spoke during a press conference in his native tongue, listing all five of their names before adding: “We will never forget you.
"We will keep your smile alive every day of our lives, and I believe that’s the best legacy we can give you.”
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Michael Roth, who owns the chopper, explained a conversation his team had with Johnson before the incident took place.
The 71-year-old told The Telegraph: "He [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."
While an eye witness named Max spoke to ABC News about the crash, explaining that he heard the tragedy unfold, before seeing the aftermath.
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He said: "It sounded like a sonic boom so I look up and literally I saw helicopter splitting in 2, with the rotor flying off in the sky it was going so fast and it just went straight into the water.
"Nothing came up afterwards it must have just sunk and that was it, and then I just waited here and like five minutes later we started seeing the police and stuff come.
"I've never seen anything like that in my life."
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He continued: "For me I just thought it was going to be like city noise, like a crash or like maybe like a jet going overhead - I know that's probably not common.
"But yeah, just like a big bang on my right and then like a whoop whoop [making a helicopter noise] as you see the propeller like flying off like up way higher than the the helicopter and just land straight in the water.
"I'm not like [sure], maybe the tail separated? But I think definitely the rotor separated and the body went straight into the water, so some something must have happened with the rotor and it just flipped right off."
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.
Joe Yates