THE family killed during a Hudson River sightseeing trip reportedly booked the doomed helicopter to celebrate one of their children's birthdays.
Siemens exec Agustin Escobar, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal and their three kids - aged four to 11 - all died along with the chopper pilot on Thursday afternoon.
Catalan radio station RAC1 reported today: “They had hired a helicopter ride to the Statue of Liberty because it was one of the children's birthdays.”
It did not say which of the youngsters was celebrating their birthday.
Heartbreaking final pictures previously showed the family posing on the doomed New York chopper moments before their tragic deaths.
The gut-wrenching photos, published on the New York Helicopter Tours website, show the family smiling as they posed in front the doomed Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV.
They were later seen strapped inside the aircraft, excited for what was meant to be a dream tour over Manhattan.
But tragedy struck around 3.15 pm, when the helicopter reportedly broke apart midair and dropped into the Hudson, killing four people on impact.
Two others were later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Terrifying videos show the chopper completely upside down as New York Police Department boats rushed to the wreck.
The cause of the horror plunge hasn't been confirmed.
The Spanish family had landed in New York just hours earlier, having flown in from Barcelona to kick off their vacation.
Escobar, a 25-year veteran of the international tech and mobility scene, had held top positions across the globe — including Spain, South America, and the U.S.
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Most recently, he was appointed Global CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility in October.
His wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, also had an impressive career.
She worked as a global commercialization manager at Siemens Energy in Barcelona for seven years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The Spanish mum was reportedly related to two former Barcelona FC presidents, including one who brought Johan Cruyff to the club.
Montal was the great-granddaughter of Augusti Montal Galobart, Barcelona’s president from 1946 to 1952, and the granddaughter of Augusti Montal Costa, who was in charge of the Catalan club from 1969 to 1977.
The couple’s three children, all believed to be in middle school or younger, were also killed in the crash.
“He was such a great person — kind, steady, and always there when you needed him,” said Juan Ignacio Diaz, who used to work with Escobar.
“He was a loyal friend, someone you could really count on.”
“No matter how hard things got, he always stayed calm and kept it together. He had this way of making things feel OK, even when they weren’t,” Diaz added.
“And he never forgot what mattered most — his family.”
“He was a loving, fun, and just really cool dad,” he said.
“I’m going to miss him and his family. I love you my friend.”
EERIE WARNING
The tragic crash happened just one day after an anti-helicopter group raised the alarm on an increase in New York City air traffic.
Andrew Rosenthal, who is the president of Stop the Chop NY/NJ, compared the jump in helicopter flights to the Washington DC plane crash that claimed 64 lives.
"That was 100 percent foreseeable and preventable,” Rosenthal said, according to the Staten Island Advance.
“And we have the same exact, maybe worse, situation here in New York City.”
Rosenthal fears that helicopters are "sneaking under" approved elevations and is worried there could be a devastating wreck in the near future.
"The difference is when it happens here, it’s going to take out several blocks of residential homes," he warned.
"It’s going to be much worse."
At least 32 people have died in helicopter crashes in New York City since 1977.
The most recent crash was in 2019, when a helicopter used for executive travel hit the roof of a Manhattan skyscraper and the pilot died.
