VIDEO | Tail of helicopter that crashed in Hudson River in US came apart mid-air before it fell into the water

The disturbing visuals of the helicopter crash in the US showed the aircraft splitting into two while airborne before plunging into the Hudson River in New Jersey on Thursday afternoon. Eyewitnesses said the tail of the copter tore off and the propeller came off the aircraft before it fell into the river.

 

The incident that happened in Jersey City killed six people, including a pilot. The passengers included Siemens CEO in Spain Agustin Escobar and his wife and their three children. The family was on vacation to the US and had hired the helicopter to tour New York and New Jersey when the aircraft crashed into the river.

 

Footage of the tragic incident doing rounds on social media showed the helicopter falling out of the sky into the Hudson. The disturbing visuals showed the tail and the rotors of the sightseeing chopper breaking off before it landed in the water upside down. It then lay on the surface for two to three seconds before disappearing in the water. 

 

Charles McSorley, an eyewitness, told the New York Post that he heard a boom and the rotors just came off before the chopper plunged. "Looked like the propellers came straight off. And I saw it come straight down,” McSorley told the tabloid. He added that the copter sounded like it was struggling before the propeller just snapped right off. "You can see it snap off, and then it just came straight down," he said. 

 

Another witness said he noticed the accident on hearing a "loud bang". He too noticed the tail rotor break off of the helicopter after which the front part started spiralling into the water. A third eyewitness too corroborated the incident, stating how the chopper fell apart about 15 feet before it crashed. He added that the rotors were in the air still propelling when the copter was falling. 

 

Meanwhile, the last photo of the family emerged showing Escobar, wife and his three kids posing before the doomed chopper. 

 

According to the owner of the tourist helicopter company, the ill-fated chopper was on its way back to base when it plunged into the Hudson River. New York Helicopter Tour CEO Michael Roth told The Telegraph that the pilot had called in to inform that he was landing and needed fuel. "It should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but 20 minutes later, he didn’t," Roth added.

 

US President Donald Trump said Thursday the chilling footage that captured the doomed helicopter plummeting into the Hudson River is "horrendous." 

World