NEW YORK CITY — The National Transportation Safety Board released investigative reports on the April 10, 2025, helicopter crash into the Hudson River, detailing physical evidence of bird remains alongside conflicting findings from video analysis. The crash killed six people and has prompted renewed scrutiny of low-altitude helicopter operations in the New York metropolitan area.

The NTSB reports describe evidence and witness reports suggesting the helicopter struck several birds before crashing. Remains of several geese were found on the wreckage of the sightseeing helicopter, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Feather Identification Lab identified remains from different breeds of geese on the wreckage. The identified bird remains included a mixed-species flock of Brant and Canada Geese. Bird remains were found specifically on the helicopter’s rotor blades and left horizontal stabilizer, according to the reports.

The helicopter crashed into the Hudson River on April 10, 2025, less than 18 minutes after takeoff from a downtown heliport in lower Manhattan. The aircraft, a Bell 206L-4 operated by New York Helicopter Tours, had flown north along the Manhattan skyline before turning south toward the Statue of Liberty. Witnesses described seeing the helicopter’s tail and main rotor breaking away and smoke pouring from the aircraft before it hit the water. Parts of the aircraft were seen tumbling into the water during the final moments of the flight.

Six people died in the crash, including a family of five from Spain and the pilot. The victims included Agustin Escobar, 49; his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their children Victor, 4; Mercedes, 8; and Agustin, 10. Agustin Escobar and his wife worked for Siemens.

The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who received his commercial pilot’s license in 2023. Rescue boats recovered the bodies from the water within minutes of impact, and recovery crews later hoisted the helicopter out of the river for examination.

One witness told NTSB investigators that a large flock of geese took flight in the area minutes before the crash. “The geese were big and there were many of them. When the helicopter went bang, I immediately thought it was a bird strike,” the witness said.

However, an NTSB video analysis said available footage showed no discernible evidence of a bird strike before the breakup. The NTSB reports do not state a probable cause of the crash, highlighting the unresolved tension between physical evidence and visual documentation.

New York Helicopter Tours shut down after the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency order to ground all of the company’s flights. The company’s operations director, Jason Costello, had agreed to voluntarily halt flights while the crash was being investigated.

Shortly afterward, the company fired Costello, and the company’s chief executive officer sent an email to the FAA stating he did not authorize the halt and that Costello was no longer an employee. The FAA suspected the firing was retaliation for a safety decision.

The FAA has stated that helicopters are especially vulnerable to bird strikes because they fly at low altitudes. The NTSB has investigated 24 helicopter bird strike crashes in the past 25 years, including three fatal ones. Over 24,000 incidents of aircraft hitting animals were reported in the FAA’s wildlife strike database last year, with more than 1,000 of those incidents determined to have happened in New York or New Jersey.

The crash adds to a pattern of fatal helicopter accidents in the New York City area. At least 38 people have died in helicopter accidents in the city since 1977, including nine killed in a 2009 midair collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson River and five who died in 2018 when a charter helicopter offering open-door flights crashed into the East River. New Jersey’s governor asked for additional restrictions on nonessential helicopter flights after the crash, underscoring ongoing concerns about urban air tourism safety.

Bird strikes continue to pose a documented risk to aviation. A Great Blackbacked Gull was hit by flying debris from the tail section of the crashed helicopter, causing its wing to separate—an incidental fatality recorded by the Smithsonian Institution’s Feather Identification Lab. While the NTSB has not concluded a probable cause, the physical evidence of multiple goose species on critical flight surfaces intensifies debate over wildlife management near flight corridors and the adequacy of current bird strike mitigation measures for low-altitude operations.