A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists in the latest U.S. aviation disaster, officials said.

The victims included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company, and three children, in addition to the pilot, a person briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press. The person could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Mayor Eric Adams said the flight began at a downtown heliport around 3 p.m. and the dead had been recovered and removed from the water. The flight, which took the aircraft north along the Manhattan skyline and then back south toward the Statue of Liberty, lasted less than 18 minutes.

Video of the crash showed parts of the chopper tumbling through the air into the water. The overturned aircraft was submerged, with rescue boats circling it.

The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officials said. No one answered the phones at the company’s offices in New York and New Jersey.

A person who answered the phone at the home of the company’s owner, Michael Roth, declined to comment. However Roth told the New York Post he was devastated and had “no clue” why the crash happened.

The Federal Aviation Administration identified the helicopter as a Bell 206, a model widely used in commercial and government aviation, including by sightseeing companies, TV news stations and police. It was initially developed for the U.S. Army before being adapted for other uses. Thousands have been manufactured over the years.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate.

Other recent crashes and close calls have already left some people worried about the safety of flying in the U.S.

Seven people were killed when a medical transport plane plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January. That happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in a generation.

Russia releases U.S. citizen from custody

An American citizen has been released from Russian custody in a prisoner swap, officials from the United States and Russia said Thursday, amid a broader effort by the two countries to mend relations.

The American, Ksenia Karelina, was serving a 12-year sentence in Russia after being convicted of treason for donating about $50 to a nonprofit group that sends assistance to Ukraine. She also holds Russian citizenship.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that Karelina, 33, was “on a plane back home to the United States.”

Russia’s intelligence agency said that Karelina had been released after a presidential pardon in exchange for Artur Petrov, a citizen of Russia and Germany whom the Justice Department had charged with export control violations.

Argentina’s president faces general strike

Argentina’s trains and subways were disrupted, flights grounded, grain shipments interrupted, deliveries halted and banks shuttered as unions held a general strike Thursday against the libertarian government of President Javier Milei.

The daylong strike comes as Milei is 16 months into a presidency that has sought to eliminate Argentina’s fiscal deficit through severe austerity measures.

The stoppage — led by the country’s main union confederation, CGT — tried to bring Argentina to a standstill a day after union activists joined a weekly protest of retirees rallying for increases to their government pensions, most of which are now set at the equivalent of some $300 a month and have lost significant ground to inflation.

Congo, M23 rebels resume peace talks

Congo’s government and Rwanda-backed rebels are meeting in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar for much-anticipated talks in a renewed push for peace in the conflict-battered eastern Congo, where the insurgents have seized vast territory, officials said Thursday.

The decades-long conflict escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic eastern Congolese city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu in February. The fighting has killed some 3,000 people and raised the fears of a wider regional war.

According to officials from both sides, the delegations from Congo’s government and the M23 rebel group also met on Wednesday in Doha, Qatar’s capital.

Alleged would-be assassin charged anew

A man already jailed on federal charges of attempting to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump as Trump golfed last fall will face additional state terrorism and attempted murder charges, Florida’s attorney general said Thursday.

Ryan Routh tried to undermine the country’s political system and will face state attempted first-degree murder and terrorism charges, Attorney General James Uthmeier said.

Routh’s lead attorney, Kristy Militello, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

NBC’s ‘SNL’ plans U.K. spinoff from London

Live from London, it’s Saturday night!

Wait, London? You heard correctly. “Saturday Night Live” announced Thursday that it plans to launch a British version of the U.S. sketch comedy show that is celebrating its 50th anniversary across the pond.

The U.K. version, produced with Sky Studios, will have a British cast of comedians — to be announced later — and follow the same format with famous guest hosts and star musical acts.

“SNL” creator Lorne Michaels will be the executive producer of “Saturday Night Live UK,” while staying in the same role with the show on NBC in New York.

— From news services