Bird strike evidence found in 2025 NYC helicopter crash

Federal investigators have found evidence that a fatal sightseeing helicopter crash in New York City last year likely involved a bird strike, according to documents released on July 16, 2026. The National Transportation Safety Board released hundreds of pages of factual reports from its ongoing investigation into the April 10, 2025, accident, which killed all six people aboard when the aircraft broke apart and plummeted into the Hudson River.

The helicopter, a Bell 206L4 operated by New York Helicopter, was on a tourist flight from the Statue of Liberty toward the George Washington Bridge when it crashed near Jersey City, New Jersey, around 3:15 p.m. The victims included a Spanish family of five and the pilot. The family was identified as Agustin Escobar, 49, a chief executive at Siemens Mobility; his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their three children, ages 4, 8, and \\ 10. The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran.

The newly released NTSB documents include an analysis from the Smithsonian Institution’s Feather Identification Lab, which identified bird remains collected from the wreckage. The analysis suggests a mixed flock of Brant and Canada geese impacted...