CEO of chopper in Hudson River helicopter crash says pilot was flying back to refuel before plummeting

The owner of the NYC helicopter tour company claimed the doomed chopper was en route back to base to refuel before crashing into the Hudson River, killing all six onboard, including a family of five.

New York Helicopter Tour CEO Michael Roth said the pilot of the aircraft had radioed about needing more fuel minutes before the tourist chopper plunged into the murky water on Thursday.

“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,” Roth told the Telegraph.

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The five passengers have been identified as a family from Spain visiting the Big Apple on vacation.

Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three children were killed along with their pilot, who was later identified as 36-year-old Navy SEAL veteran Sean Johnson.

The couple’s kids were 10-year-old Augustin, 8-year-old Mercedes and 4-year-old Victor, officials said at a National Transportation Safety Board press conference Friday.

Escobar was the global CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, while his wife worked as a global commercialization manager for energy technology company Siemens Energy.

Four victims were pronounced dead at the scene and two more were declared dead at the hospital, officials said.

Gut-wrenching photos on the New York Helicopter Tours website show Escobar, Montal and their children smiling in front of the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV helicopter and strapped inside the aircraft.

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Stay up to date on the Hudson River helicopter crash:

• Doomed helicopter in Hudson River crash was on eighth flight of day and lacked flight recorder: officials
• New York Helicopter Tours shuts down after Hudson River crash that killed 6: FAA
• Pilot of doomed Hudson River helicopter ID’d as Navy SEAL veteran who had posted chilling video month before death
• Disturbing video shows moment helicopter plummets into Hudson River, killing six
• NTSB report reveals disturbing new details in doomed tourist helicopter that crashed into Hudson, killing 6

Roth said he learned about the tragedy from one of his workers at the company’s downtown heliport, who had heard about a crash, not knowing it was their helicopter.

“Then one of my pilots flew over the Hudson and saw the helicopter upside down,” he told the outlet.

Roth revealed to The Post earlier he was “absolutely devastated” by the deadly incident that killed all six people, including three children, on board. 

“It’s devastation,” he said. “I’m a father and a grandfather and to have children on there, I’m devastated. I’m absolutely devastated.”

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Roth didn’t provide any cause of the crash, only giving his perspective from what he saw in footage of the midafternoon catastrophe.

“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. “And I haven’t seen anything like that in my 30 years being in business, in the helicopter business. The only thing I could guess — I got no clue — is that it either had a bird strike or the main rotor blades failed. I have no clue. I don’t know.”

The Bell 206 Chopper split in half as it flew over the waterway separating New York and New Jersey around 3:15 p.m., FDNY officials said.

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Video captured the fuselage plummeting upside down into the murky waters, causing a large splash near Pier 40 on West Houston Street and West Street.

The helicopter’s rotors spun separately out of control into the river moments later.

Witnesses described hearing a “boom sound” at the moment of impact.

Officials have begun clearing the debris field out of the river as they investigate the cause of the crash.

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The mangled wreckage of the sightseeing helicopter was lifted out of the cold waters of the Hudson late Thursday.

Dive operations will resume Friday to recover additional parts of the aircraft.