Pilot warned he ‘needed fuel’ in radio call before helicopter crashed into Hudson River killing six people

The pilot of the helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River and killed six people reportedly told the base that the chopper needed to refuel.

At around 3.15pm ET on Thursday (April 10), a helicopter plummeted into the New York river, close to Jersey City, killing a family of tourists and the pilot.

Tragically, all six of those on board have been pulled from the waters and confirmed as dead, including a family of five, made up of parents Agustín Escobar and Merce Camprubi Montal and their three young children and the pilot.

It is understood that the Spanish family was traveling on a sightseeing trip.

Emergency services were called to the crash less than 20 minutes after the aircraft set off from a downtown Manhattan Skyport at around 3pm.

The owner of the chopper, Michael Roth, 71, told The Telegraph that the pilot, who is yet to be identified, had radioed the base to say the group were returning to the helipad but never made it.

"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," he said.

Roth owns the company New York Helicopter which provides sky tours of the city.

"We’re all devastated. Every employee in our company is devastated. My wife has not stopped crying," he continued. "I got a call from my manager and my downtown heliport and she said she heard there was a crash, and then my phone blew up from everybody.

"Then one of my pilots flew over the Hudson and saw the helicopter upside down.

"The death of the child of any human being, is a monumental disaster."

He also told the Wall Street Journal he had 'no clue' how the tragedy happened.

"The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter," Roth said.

He added that he had not seen such a thing happen during his three decades in the business, but noted: "These are machines, and they break."

NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a news briefing that the aircraft 'lost control and hit the water'.

The Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV helicopter, registered with the Federal Aviation Administration as N216MH, made nine other short journeys from Lower Manhattan on Thursday, according to FlightAware, reports the BBC.

Helicopter crashed in Hudson! The chopper broke off midair and dropped!! pic.twitter.com/KpQGmM8x25

— Avirbhaw(Avi) Rakesh (@AvirbhawRakesh) April 10, 2025

Shocking video footage shared on social media appears to show the tail and rotors of the helicopter had become detached before falling towards the water.

An eyewitness also explained how they heard the tragedy unfold before seeing the aftermath to ABC News.

"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," they said. "I've never seen anything like that in my life."

It is believed the helicopter flew over Governor’s Island and near the Statue of Liberty and travelled up the Hudson River on the New York side before turning around near the George Washington Bridge and flying along the Jersey City stretch of the river.

Officials are still pulling the wreckage from the waters in Manhattan while an investigation is underway to determine what happened.

UNILAD has contacted the NYPD and US Coast Guard for comment.