Kathryn Johnson, wife of Sean Johnson, the helicopter pilot who fell on April 10 in the Hudson River, in New York, and that caused his death and that of five members of a Spanish family, revealed to international media that his partner was a veteran of the Navy Seal and that his dream was to fly.
He always wanted to fly. I was speechless. I don’t even know what happened, Kathryn said to the medium Gothamist.
According to the information, Johnson had recently moved to New York to continue his career as a pilot, according to a Gothamist publication.
It is known that Sean and Kathryn had been separated in recent months, but maintained communication, and the last time they spoke was the day before the accident.
It is really difficult at this time, said the woman.
The National Transport Security Board (NTSB) confirmed that Johnson had a commercial pilot certificate and reported 450 hours of flight experience in his most recent medical report, presented in 2024.
Until March 29, Johnson had accumulated about 780 hours of total flight time.
Kathryn said that, before becoming a pilot, Sean worked on a television program and was bodyguard of a celebrity, but always wanted to fly.
According to his Facebook page, Sean was originally from Chicago and studied at the University of Southern Utah to become a commercial pilot between 2021 and 2023.
They celebrated birthdays
The Spanish family who died in the accident of a tourist helicopter that rushed to the Hudson River, in New York, was celebrating a birthday, a local official reported on Friday.
In the accident, occurred on Thursday, there were no survivors. A senior Siemens executive, his wife and three children, in addition to the pilot, died. The helicopter suffered a damage and disintegrated in the air before rushing into cold water.
They celebrated the mother’s 40th birthday with the helicopter tourist flight yesterday. The children were 11 years old or less, said the mayor of Jersey City, Steven Fulop.
A relative was heading to the United States to recover their remains, and the authorities sought to expedite the delivery of the bodies for repatriation to Spain, Fulop added in X.
The president of the National Board of Transportation Security, Jennifer Homendy, refused to comment on the cause of the accident and declared to the press: this is the first full day of our investigation … We have a lot of information, but we do not speculate.
Researchers will focus on the helicopter operator. They will examine the helicopter owner and review the pilot’s grades, among other data. We have experts in helicopter aircraft, structures and systems. We also have our test management team here, he said.