A father who died after jumping off a highway bridge in New Jersey with his young sons aged one and three in his arms has been identified.

John Spincken, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene at the Route I-287 overpass over the Wanaque River, after jumping up to 100ft.

His children however somehow survived the fall with non life-threatening injuries

Authorities were first alerted to a domestic situation when Spincken's wife, Fara Araullo, called Pequannock police in Morris County just before 7pm on Monday.

John Spincken, pictured with his wife Fara Araullo and his young sons aged three and one, jumped off a highway bridge in New Jersey with his boys in his arms

Domestic disturbance: Authorities were first alerted to a situation when Ms Araullo called police and said Spincken had threatened to harm himself and the boys before fleeing

State troopers were subsequently called to I-287 near mile marker 56 around 8pm according to NBC New York.

Spincken, who runs Autolux, an auto detailing service in northern New Jersey, had reportedly been arguing with his wife and then threatened to harm himself and his sons before seizing them and taking them away in his white SUV.

Ms Araullo subsequently contacted 911 and police were eventually able to track his phone down to the car which was parked on the I-287 southbound in Wanaque Township.

His car was found near the bridge; police believe he climbed on top of the vehicle, before scaling an 8-foot 'suicide prevention fence' with the boys before jumping.which police believe he climbed on top of before jumping.

His body and the children were found in the embankment below. He was pronounced dead at the scene around 9pm.

Miracle: While Spincken's body was found at the scene, his children amazingly survived the fall, a drop of up to 100feet; and were only treated for non life-threatening injuries

Spincken was killed and his two young children were seriously injured after he jumped off of a highway bridge with them in his arms (pictured at the scene)

John Spincken jumped while holding his two sons, aged one and three, from the Route I-287 overpass into the Wanaque River in New Jersey; amazingly the children survived

The children are thought to have survived because they managed to land within a wooded area located beneath the bridge as opposed to the river

Amazingly the children were conscious when police found them, with the one-year-old suffering only a bruised lung and concussion while the three-year-old only had a concussion. They were taken to St Joseph's Regional Medical Center for treatment.

'It's a miracle [they survived],' Pequannock police captain Christopher DePuyt told Pix11 News.

'Happened very quickly and [the domestic disturbance] became secondary to why we were called there after he threatened to do harm to the boys.

Police said that there were no previous records of police being called to the family home in the past, although court records obtained by NJ1015 show he pleaded guilty in 2003 to violating a domestic violence restraining order. He was also charged with unlawfully possessing forearms and handguns without a permit and criminal mischief. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and five years of probation.

There is no hint of any animosity on Spincken's Facebook page.

He wrote as recently as August how 'grateful and appreciative' he was to have two sons.

In December 2014, he wrote about how he saved one of his son's lives.

'As I sit here in a hospital room and stare at my sick and sleeping baby boy, I can not help but think to myself how fortunate I am. Although I cannot remove the horrific image of my frantic wife holding my lifeless blue son, I am grateful of my instinctive reactions as well as caring neighbors and a fast acting EMT squad. I've never performed CPR in my entire life nor have I ever takin a CPR class...

'And was able to buy him enough time before our neighbor, which is a nurse, could help in reviving him. All of this happened within a matter of minutes which felt like an eternity. The next thing I knew I heard an EMT say "he's breathing...he's breathing!" I was still in a panic but those 2 words gave me a sense of relief.'

On the day his three-year-old son was born, he wrote: 'I'm a dad! Best feeling on the world!'

Spincken was pronounced dead at the scene but his children survived the fall and were rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries (pictured are emergency crews at the scene)