The company operating the helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River carrying a family from Spain, killing them all, has a history of close calls and financial problems that resulted in a 2019 bankruptcy filing.
In June 2013, a craft owned by the same company, New York Helicopter, experienced engine failure with four passengers aboard, which ended in an emergency evacuation, according to National Transportation Safety Board records.
“I heard a bang. A passenger in the back of the aircraft asked if I had hit a bird. I said no,” wrote pilot Michael Campbell in the report to the agency. “All indications suggested an engine failure. I notified the passengers that we were going down, and I transmitted a mayday call to LaGuardia tower.”
Gardiner Anderson / New York Daily News
The mangled wreckage of a helicopter is lifted from the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey after it crashed on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Daily News)
The craft landed in the Hudson and water rushed into the cabin, wrote Campbell, but there were no injuries.
Two years later, another New York Helicopter pilot reported to the agency that after refueling on a solo trip, he struggled to control the aircraft as it began to rotate and gain speed.
He wrote that the helicopter spun around in the air three times before he was able to land.
New York Helicopter filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy paperwork in October 2019 in New York, claiming they brought in $2.1 million in 2019 but owed almost $1.7 million to creditors at the time of the bankruptcy filing, including over $480,000 in repair services and more than $14,000 in fuel costs, according to court papers.
Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, with two of their three children are pictured in an undated photo. The family was killed in a helicopter crash on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Facebook)
New York Helicopter traced its financial troubles to an order by New York City to cut their trips by 50% in tandem with an increase in the fees to land at the heliport in lower Manhattan.
“NYH began experiencing financial issues in or about January 2017 when the City of New York issues policy changes aimed at reducing air traffic over the city. Specifically, NYH was directed to reduce its takeoffs and landing by fifty percent (50%),” read the court filing.
The company said they had been raking in $4.6 million to $5.8 million throughout the 1990s up until the decision was made by the city to cut air traffic, but income had shrank to just over $2 million in the year leading up to the bankruptcy, according to court papers.
At the same time, landing fees had increased by 40%, the company claimed in the filing.
Along with the bankruptcy petition, the aviation company filed paperwork stating they owned a fleet of three helicopters valued at just over $3 million but had less than $10,000 in their checking accounts.
The case was converted to a Chapter 7 filing in January 2021 and a trustee appointed. The Chapter 7 designation allowed New York Helicopter CEO Michael Roth to start anew after paying his debts through liquidation of the company’s assets.
The bankruptcy case was closed in May 2022.
Tourists Agustin Escobar, a CEO at technology giant Siemens Mobility, his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal, a manager at Siemens Energy, and their three young children were all killed in the crash along with the pilot Thursday afternoon.
The family of five boarded the helicopter at 2:59 p.m. and 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 36-year-old pilot had radioed moments before plummeting into the water that he was desperately low on fuel and was heading back to the helipad, Roth told The Telegraph.
On Friday, New York Helicopter Tours said it was “profoundly saddened by the tragic accident and loss of life that occurred on April 10, 2025, involving one of our helicopters in the Hudson River. At New York Helicopter Tours, the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew has always been the cornerstone of our operations. Our immediate focus is supporting the families and their loved ones affected by this tragedy, as well as fully cooperating with the FAA and NTSB investigations.”
With John Annese
