At 3.17pm Eastern Time yesterday (April 10), the aircraft, which New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed was operated by New York Helicopters, crashed into the Hudson River.
It was later confirmed that all six people onboard had died.
The victims of the flight have been identified as Siemens executive Agustín Escobar, of Barcelona, Spain, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three children aged 11, five and four, officials confirmed.
And in the most recent development, the pilot has been identified as Sean Johnson, a former Navy SEAL.
The owner of the chopper, Michael Roth, 71, has since told The Telegraph: “He [the pilot] called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel, and it should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but 20 minutes later, he didn’t arrive.”
Johnson had previously worked as a celebrity bodyguard before he moved to New York to begin his career in aviation.
His wife, Kathryn Johnson, has spoken out following the devastating news. She told the Gothamist: “I’m just at loss for words. I don’t even know what happened.
“It’s just hard right now.”
Meanwhile, Johnson’s co-pilot, Earl Watters, said on Facebook: “With a heavy heart I post this…Thanks to everyone that has reached out to me. Yes, the pilot of the helicopter crash in NY was my Co-Pilot and great friend on Boomer last year Sean Johnson.
“… The world has lost an all around great person and amazing friend. He definitely changed my life for the better and I just want to celebrate his life and how he lived. Always and forever a BOOMER crew member Godspeed Amigo.”
An eye witness named Max spoke to ABC News about the crash, explaining that he heard the tragedy unfold, before seeing the aftermath.
He said: “It sounded like a sonic boom so I look up and literally I saw helicopter splitting in 2, with the rotor flying off in the sky it was going so fast and it just went straight into the water.
“Nothing came up afterwards it must have just sunk and that was it, and then I just waited here and like five minutes later we started seeing the police and stuff come.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.”
He continued: “For me I just thought it was going to be like city noise, like a crash or like maybe like a jet going overhead – I know that’s probably not common.
“But yeah, just like a big bang on my right and then like a whoop whoop [making a helicopter noise] as you see the propeller like flying off like up way higher than the the helicopter and just land straight in the water.
“I’m not like [sure], maybe the tail separated? But I think definitely the rotor separated and the body went straight into the water, so some something must have happened with the rotor and it just flipped right off.”
An investigation into the crash is set to be conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board.
