SIX people, including three children, died when a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River, New York, United States, on Thursday, April 10, 2025. All passengers on the sightseeing trip—a Spanish family of five and a pilot—were killed during the crash, including two people who were taken to the hospital and later died from their injuries.
The BBC reported that while authorities are yet to release the victims’ identities, two are widely named as executives of Siemens, Agustín Escobar and his wife Mercè Camprubí Montal.
Besides the recent crash, several incidents involving helicopters have taken the lives of many high-ranking figures in the past. Here are five among them:
Agustín Escobar (2025)
Local officials said the Bell 206 flight was operated by New York Helicopter Tours. The owner of New York Helicopters, Michael Roth, told the New York Post he was deeply shocked and unaware of the cause of the accident. "The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter," Roth said on Saturday, April 12, 2025. The tragic accident victims include global executive of Siemens, Agustín Escobar, along with his wife and three young children, as well as the pilot.
Ebrahim Raisi (2024)
On May 19, 2024, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was reported to have died in a helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan. Also killed in the helicopter was Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. “Unfortunately, none of the passengers of this helicopter have been found with vital signs and the signs indicate that all of them were martyred,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency later reported, as quoted from NBC News.
Olivier Dassault (2021)
Olivier Dassault, a scion of the Dassault aircraft-making family, was killed in a helicopter crash in Normandy, France, on March 7, 2021. Dassault, one of the world's richest men, was known for his aviation and media businesses, such as the Rafale fighter jet and the newspaper Le Figaro. President Emmanuel Macron said Dassault's death was a great loss for France.
Captain of industry, deputy, local elected official, reserve commander in the air force: during his life, he never ceased to serve our country, to enhance its assets,” Macron wrote on X. “His sudden death is a great loss. Thoughts to his family and loved ones.”
Kobe Bryant (2020)
NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna died in a helicopter accident in Calabasas, California, on January 26, 2020. The Sikorsky S-76B helicopter they were on crashed and exploded in hilly terrain. Thick morning fog conditions were cited as a contributing factor in causing the helicopter to lose visibility.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti expressed his condolences. "He will live forever in the heart of Los Angeles, and will be remembered through the ages as one of our greatest heroes," he said at that time, as quoted from The Hollywood Reporter.
Chris Cline (2019)
American billionaire Chris Cline from West Virginia, along with his daughter and five others, died in a helicopter accident near the Bahamas Islands on July 4, 2019. The helicopter was reported missing after taking off from Big Grand Cay.
Cline was known as the founder of a major coal business empire in the United States. "Today we lost a WV superstar and I lost a very close friend. Our families go back to the beginning of the Cline empire - Pioneer Fuel. Chris Cline built an empire and on every occasion was always there to give. What a wonderful, loving, and giving man," Jim Justice, the Governor of West Virginia, wrote on X.
Irsyan Hasyim, Nabiila Azzahra, Zacharias Wuragil contributed to the writing of this article
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