The cause of the deaths of the family of five and the pilot killed in the tragic Hudson River helicopter crash has yet to be determined.
Jersey City Mayor Stephen Flop said the brothers Merze Kampulbi Montal, who were killed in an accident along with their husband and three young children on Thursday, jumped out of Spain on Friday.
“There's still a fair amount of process,” Flop told the Post on Saturday, waiting for an afternoon press conference for the National Road Safety Commission.
“The family may have to identify the bodies, but they still have to arrange for transportation to Spain. The Spanish consulate is involved and Siemens has people working on this.”
Meanwhile, the body is kept in the Hudson County Medical Examination Office.
“They still need to figure out the cause of the death. Was it from own death or from the propeller? Now, we're all waiting to hear what the NTSB has to say,” Flop said.
Her husband, Agustin Escobar, and three young children – Augustine (ages 10 and 8), four Victor, 4, ages 4 – and Sean Johnson, 36, a former pilot, Navy veteran, suddenly broke above the Hudson River, about 25 minutes after a sightseeing tour at Bell 206L Chopper, crashed into the city of Frigid Waters.
Aviation experts said that when Johnson broke away in the air it was likely that something was seriously wrong.
“The pilot would have known something was wrong, but the passengers may not have it,” air attorney Jim Blauchul told the Post. “Obviously, a constantly flying pilot knows something is wrong, but passengers may not immediately understand the danger.”
“When things start to spin, people know it's devastating. Passengers eventually get it.”
Braukul said the fateful passenger and pilot could have died from either blunt force trauma or own death.
“You hope that the people inside will be knocked out if they were aware of it, because it was horrifying. Once the reversed, they might have hit their heads on the inside of the helicopter,” he said. “For them, you hope that's what happened. It could make them unconscious.”
Brauchle added that once the helicopter rotor is separated from the aircraft and the tail is cut, there is nothing even the most expert pilot can do.
“If you lose a rotor blade, it can't be recovered. Why [the chopper] To turn it over, the helicopter roof is the heaviest part. Losing the main rotor essentially becomes a rock. There's nothing to create a lift,” he said.
A relative of Camprubí Montal and Escobar's family say they are comforted by the fact that their loved ones “dead together” in “the sweetest moments of their lives.”
“There is no word to describe what we are going through, and we are not grateful for the warmth we received.” Letters posted on x by Joan Kanrubi Montal on Friday.
“Though these are extremely difficult times, optimism and joy have always characterised our family,” said a statement signed by the 19 Escobar and Kanrubimontal families. “We want to preserve the memories of our happy, united families at the sweetest moments of their lives.
