Transportation Secretary Duffy sends safety review team to investigate deadly helicopter crash

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday night announced that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigators and a safety review team will be on site of the deadly helicopter crash in New York City soon.

The secretary did not give an exact timeline of when the investigators would be on site, but said the teams would arrive later Thursday. The incident took place earlier in the day, after the helicopter crashed into the Hudson River. All six people on the helicopter, including three children, were killed.

Early findings discovered the chopper was in a "Special Flight Rules Area" of New York, which meant no air traffic control services were helping the tour helicopter at the time of the crash, Duffy said on X. But several minutes before entering the area, air traffic control from LaGuardia Airport was assisting the helicopter.

The cause of the crash is not currently known, but five of the passengers have been identified as a family of tourists from Spain who were in the U.S. for vacation. The father has been identified as Agustin Escobar, president and CEO of Siemens, Spain. The pilot has not been identified so far.

President Donald Trump mourned the losses in a post on Truth Social.

"Terrible helicopter crash in the Hudson River," the president wrote. "Looks like six people, the pilot, two adults, and three children, are no longer with us. The footage of the accident is horrendous. God bless the families and friends of the victims."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.