A family of five from Spain and a pilot were killed Thursday afternoon when their sightseeing helicopter lost control and plunged into the Hudson River in New York City.

Video of the crash about 3:14 p.m. shows the single-engine seven-seat aircraft, which is owned and operated by New York Helicopter, plunging upside down toward the river with its top propellers no longer spinning.

The video also appears to show a piece of the helicopter flying off the aircraft before it crashes into the Hudson near Pier 40 at West Houston Street.

Videos posted on social media showed the aircraft submerged and upside down.

Just after 8 p.m. Thursday, crews pulled the heavily damaged Bell  206-L4 Rotorcraft from the river.

At a news conference late Thursday afternoon in Manhattan, Mayor Eric Adams, joined by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and other city officials, said a family from Spain — two adults and three children — as well as the pilot, were killed in the crash.

Late Thursday, The Associated Press, citing a person briefed on the investigation, identified two of the victims as Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, and his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal.

NYPD divers pulled four occupants from the river while FDNY divers pulled out another two, Tisch said.

Four of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene. Medical personnel pronounced the other two victims dead at a hospital.

"It's reminiscent of a plane going down on the Hudson. ... We are praying for the families," Adams said.

Michael Roth, CEO of New York Helicopter, told Newsday: "This is fresh. I’ve been in this business 30 years. I’m devastated because all the lives, especially children. I’m a father and a grandfather and we would never do anything to jeopardize anyone ... I don’t want to make any assumptions, but you have to remember: It’s a machine. Sometimes machines break."

Roth said he had no information about those on the helicopter.

In a statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul said: "This crash is heartbreaking, and worse than we could have imagined. Six innocent souls have lost their lives and we pray for them and their families. State agencies are on high alert to provide any necessary assistance to support NYPD, FDNY and other first responders."

Tisch said the helicopter took off from the downtown Manhattan Heliport at 2:59 p.m., flew south, then turned to fly north along the Manhattan shoreline of the Hudson.

At 3:08 p.m. the helicopter reached the George Washington Bridge then tried again to fly south along the New Jersey shoreline, she said.

Shortly thereafter, the aircraft lost control and hit the water just a few feet off the coast of Pier A Park in Hoboken, the commissioner said. 

The cause of the crash, she said, is currently under investigation.

Krishna Jayanarayanan, a tech consultant, was working remotely on the 22nd floor of his Jersey City apartment building when he heard a loud sound and looked out his window, which overlooks the water.

"I saw black smoke — a loud bang and the head of the helicopter crashed down into the water and then the tail followed and crashed behind it," he said. "It all happened in a split second."

Bruce Wall, 27, who works in Jersey City, was walking from Hoboken when he heard a loud sound and saw the aircraft "slowly falling apart ... before it actually fell."

Jim Brauchle, a former Air Force navigator and South Carolina-based attorney for victims of aviation disasters — his firm represented family members of Italian tourists killed in 2009 midair collision between a helicopter and a small plane over the Hudson River — said tourist flights are required to follow FAA-approved flight routes.

He said video he viewed of the crash appeared to show the helicopter's tail missing, which could have been caused by the main rotor striking the body of the helicopter, cutting it off, by a mechanical defect or a sudden maneuver by the helicopter.

"If [investigators] can't find any evidence of some type of mechanical defect, they're really going to look at the human element — the pilots actions," Brauchle said. "And if they think that it was from some type of violent maneuver, then the question becomes, well, why?"

The helicopter was scheduled to land at 3:25 p.m. at the Newport Helistop in Jersey City, according to FlightAware, an aircraft tracking system. The flight path shows the helicopter circling Governors Island and traveling up the Hudson River over the George Washington Bridge and circling back down the Hudson, before crashing just north of the Holland Tunnel.

The helicopter was registered to Meridian Helicopters, based in Louisiana. According to an online FAA registry, the aircraft was manufactured in 2004.

Emergency responders' flashing red and blue lights in and on the banks of the Hudson River were visible from the New Jersey side of the water, as other helicopters were flown toward the scene.

A massive showing of first responders could be seen along the West Side Highway by Spring Street, including the NYPD's Emergency Services Unit, FDNY Marine Tactical Support Unit, FDNY Mobile Respiratory Transit Unit and more than 10 fire trucks.

A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board said the agency was aware of the crash and will be deciding Thursday evening how to proceed with the investigation.

The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with both planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights.

A tourist helicopter trip could take 15 to 30 minutes and will take passengers over the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Yankee Stadium, the George Washington Bridge and One World Trade Center, often at a price of several hundred dollars.

Almost a decade after the 2009 crash, in which nine died. a helicopter fell into the East River in 2018, killing five passengers, although the pilot survived.

A New York City Council resolution, introduced last year that would have called on the Federal Aviation Administration to ban all nonessential helicopter travel, including tourist and chartered helicopter flights over Manhattan, stalled in committee and never came up for a vote.