A tourist helicopter lost control and plunged into the Hudson River on April 10, 2025, claiming the lives of a family of five and the pilot.

What happened with the Hudson River helicopter crash

The helicopter, owned and operated by New York Helicopter, took off from Manhattan’s downtown heliport at 2:59 p.m. on a popular sightseeing route. It circled the Statue of Liberty and headed towards the George Washington Bridge, reaching it by 3:08 p.m.

A video of the crash shows the aircraft falling upside down at 3:14 p.m. without its top propeller spinning. A piece of the helicopter flew off the aircraft just before it landed in the river, the video shows. Emergency crews were quick to respond, but unable to save anyone on board. New York Helicopter shut down operations immediately following he crash.

The specific cause of the crash is unknown at this time. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will investigate the tragedy, with the NTSB leading those efforts.

“Many different factors could have led to a crash of this type. We will be monitoring the investigation into this crash closely to see where the fault for this tragic accident lies,” said Mary Schiavo, former U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General and Motley Rice aviation attorney.

Previous helicopter crashes in New York City

New York City applied significant restrictions to helicopter landings after a fatal incident atop the Pan Am Building in 1977. At least 38 people have died in helicopter crashes in the area since.

“Having previously represented the families of Italian tourists killed during a helicopter tour over the Hudson River, my heart goes out to the families at this catastrophic time. As we have learned during that and other helicopter crash investigations, it is too soon to draw conclusions. However, from the footage, it appears that the main rotor struck the body of the helicopter, cutting off the tail of the helicopter, which created an unrecoverable event. The two main causes of this phenomenon are mechanical failure or excessive maneuvering. Still, a full investigation is needed to understand why this tragedy occurred,” stated former military aviator and attorney Jim Brauchle of Motley Rice LLC.

New York Helicopter had two prior safety issues with the FAA, including a hard landing in 2015. In that case, the FAA discovered a faulty tail rotor driveshaft, but the company “painted over” the issue.

Our aviation experience

Motley Rice is one of the largest plaintiffs’ litigation firms in the United States. Our law firm has the experience and resources to investigate, litigate and resolve aviation disaster cases in the U.S. court system.

Our aviation attorneys have worked with clients from and/or on crashes in all 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as well as several other countries across the globe. Additionally, we work with foreign lawyers on cases outside the U.S. Our experience includes representing victims in litigation against:

  • Airlines
  • Manufacturers
  • Maintenance contractors
  • Airports
  • Air traffic control
  • Government entities

For more information, contact Motley Rice aviation attorneys Jim Brauchle, Mary Schiavo or Tola Familoni by email or call 1.843.279.5448.