Relative of family killed in doomed helicopter lays flowers at Hudson River crash site

Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News on Apr 12, 2025

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NEW YORK — A relative of the family of six tourists killed in the doomed helicopter crash in the Hudson River laid flowers at the crash site Saturday as he went about the grisly task of bringing their bodies back to Spain to be buried.

“They left together. They left without suffering and they left with a smile on their faces,” Joan Camprubí Montal said about his sister Merce Camprubi Montal, her husband Agustin Escobar and their three children, Augustin Jr., 10, Mercedes, 8, and Victor, 4. “That’s important to us as a family. We want to remember and honor their smile forever.”

Mayor Eric Adams joined Camprubí Montal as he took a boat to the site of Thursday’s helicopter crash, laying flowers for both his family and pilot Seankese “Sean” Johnson.

The flowers, Adams said, was a “symbolic gesture for the loss of life.”

“What should have been a happy vacation turned into an unimaginable tragedy,” he said. “Our hearts are broken and we want to say to the family members and the wider Spanish community that we’re here with you.

“No words can fill the void, the loss, but we can collaborate together and make sure the families involved get the support of this city,” Adams said at a brief press conference at Pier 40.

Escobar, the CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, and his family were all killed with Johnson after pieces of the helicopter, including the rotor, appeared to break off in mid-air on the Jersey City side of the river Thursday afternoon.

The helicopter overturned and dropped from the sky, hitting the water upside down.

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, but several pieces of the chopper, including its rotors, were still missing.

NYPD divers on Saturday were using sonar to try to find the missing pieces at the bottom of the river.

Adams had flown back to New York after visiting the Dominican Republic, where he mourned the 221 people killed in the Santo Domingo nightclub roof collapse.

The crash investigation will include “reports of a large flock of birds in the area shortly before the crash,” NTSB Chairperson Jennifer Homendy said. Early speculation before the NTSB arrived was that the helicopter fell victim to a bird strike.

“We are aware of the reports and it is something we will be looking into,” she said. “Everything is on the table. We don’t rule anything out. We will not speculate on a preliminary cause.”

The copter first headed up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge, where it turned around and then headed back south, flying along the New Jersey side of the river before suddenly dropping upside down into the river near Hoboken, Mayor Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Thursday.

The flight lasted less than 18 minutes, officials said.

The family came to New York City to celebrate the birthday of one of their children. Escobar was already in the city on business and had his family join him so they could “extend the trip a couple days in New York City,” Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said Friday.

Johnson, 36, had radioed moments before plummeting into the water that he was desperately low on fuel and was heading back to the lower Manhattan helipad, New York Helicopter CEO Michael Roth told The Telegraph.

The pilot made the radio transmission just before the 3:15 p.m. crash on the New Jersey side of the river. The helicopter took off from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in lower Manhattan shortly before 3 p.m.

Joan Camprubí Montal said Saturday that he and his family appreciated all the support they have received from both sides of the Atlantic.

“You can imagine we are trying to assimilate the situation. We want to move the bodies as soon as possible back home to rest in peace together,” he said. “This is a really difficult situation, but we are overwhelmed by the massive condolences we received.

“This is probably because the Escobar-Camprubí Montal family was a loved family,” he said, solemnly.