Pilot’s Final Radio Message Before Hudson River Crash Raises Questions

Helicopter pilot’s chilling radio call before deadly crash into Hudson River

A terrifying call was made by a Navy Seal veteran who was the pilot of the aircraft that caused the chopper to crash into the Hudson River in New York City before the accident occurred.

Agustín Escobar and Mercè Camprubí Montal, along with their three children, Agustín, who is ten years old, Mercè, who is eight years old, and Víctor, who is four years old, had gone from Spain to the United States in order to commemorate Ms. Camprubí’s birthday.

The aeroplane broke apart above the waters off of Manhattan, resulting in the deaths of all those on board.

As of this moment, Seankese ‘Sean’ Johnson, who is 36 years old, has been recognised as the pilot of the aircraft.

It was disclosed by the owner of the fateful helicopter that the pilot had communicated with the base via radio to inform them that they were going to return to the helipad in order to refuel.

“He called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel, and it should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but twenty minutes later, he did not arrive,” Michael Roth said in an interview with The Telegraph.

On Friday, April 11, 2025, a dive crew from the New York Police Department makes their way to the location where a sightseeing helicopter had crashed into the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey, the previous day. (Image courtesy of Yuki Iwamura/Associated Press)

The individual, who is 71 years old, is the proprietor of a business known as New York Helicopter, which offers helicopter tours of the city.

All of us are in utter disbelief. Every single worker at our organisation is in utter disbelief. Not a single tear has been shed by my wife.

“I received a call from my manager and my downtown heliport, and she informed me that she had heard there was a crash. After that, my phone exploded from the amount of people who were calling it.”

Following that, one of my pilots flew across the Hudson River and observed the helicopter in an inverted position.

Thursday afternoon, at approximately 3:15 p.m., the tragedy occurred closer to the New Jersey side of the border.

The data from the radar indicates that it went north along the skyline of Manhattan and then turned around and headed south towards the Statue of Liberty.

When the helicopter crashed into the river at a high rate of speed, Johnson had only been holding the controls of the helicopter for fifteen minutes after it had taken off.

The footage showed the rotor of the craft ripping off as it nose-dived into the ocean, sending debris shooting through the air.

Bruce Wall, a witness who was present at the time, stated that he witnessed the aircraft “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and main rotor disappearing. At the time of the helicopter’s descent, the main rotor was still turning without the helicopter.

Although an investigation is still being conducted, the official cause of the disaster has not yet been established.

According to Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who served as a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps, the footage revealed that the pilot had little hope of saving the aircraft because of a “catastrophic mechanical failure.”