Helicopter pilot in deadly Hudson River crash was Navy veteran pursuing his dreams
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A family on a vacation and a pilot, living his dream in New York City, make up the six lives lost after a sightseeing helicopter plunged into the Hudson River on Thursday.
The pilot of the doomed helicopter was identified Friday as Seankese Johnson, who goes by Sean, multiple sources told ABC News.
The NTSB said the pilot accumulated 788 hours of total flight time. Investigators still need to calculate flight time in the particular helicopter he was flying when it went down.
Johnson was a Navy veteran who got his commercial pilot's license in 2023 in Utah. He had stints flying around the country and friends say he even worked as an instructor - he only recently started flying for New York Helicopter Charter.
Matt Klier served in the Navy with Johnson in California, and says his friend recently helped teach his daughter how to fly a fixed wing aircraft.
"We were in the Navy together, a few years at the same command here in Coronado and he was just a super good dude... just 100% friendly, not a bad bone, you know," Klier said. "What I need everybody to know... the man was an amazing pilot. I highly doubt its going to come back to anything he did wrong."
His wife, who tells Eyewitness News they are separated but still very close, says the two spoke on the phone Thursday before the ill-fated flight.
She says Johnson's life goal was to be a pilot.
What we know about the family
Authorities say 49-year-old Agustin Escobar was visiting from Barcelona, Spain, with his wife, 40- year-old Merce Camprubi Montal and their three children - 4, 8 and 10 years old.
The children were identified Friday as 10-year-old Agustín, 8-year-old Mercè -- who would have turned 9 on Friday-- and 4-year-old Victor.
"Unfortunately the 8-year-old, its his birthday today, this is probably part of a normal tourist attraction of seeing the city from the skyline, its a real unfortunate situation, our heart goes out to the family members, I communicated with the council general yesterday to let them know we can help in any way that is possible," said Mayor Eric Adams.
Escobar was the Global CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, a role he took on in 2024 - in a statement, the tech company said:
"We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all their loved ones."
His wife - also worked for Siemens as the Global Commercialization Manager for the Energy subsidiary.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop shared it was also her birthday.
"It is just a tragic story it is, they were celebrating the mom's 40th birthday, they were very excited, they extended a business trip where the husband was there on Sunday and Monday, its just really really really sad story, the more you learn about it," Fulop said.
Workers in Spain were shocked by the news.
"Agustín was very much cherished by all of us. He was very friendly and always giving good energy. The same goes for his wife.... We are all out of words," said Siemens coworker Fernando Perez.
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