Spanish family of 5 tragically killed in New York sightseeing helicopter crash was on birthday trip

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The family who tragically died in the New York helicopter crash in the Hudson River on Thursday, April 10, was reportedly in the city for a birthday trip. 

The crash claimed the lives of all six people on board, including the Spanish family of five, and the pilot, who has been identified as the 36-year-old Navy SEAL veteran Sean Johnson, per the New York Post. 

As reported by the outlet, the CEO of Siemens’ Rail Infrastructure division in Spain, Agustin Escobar, was on the fateful flight with his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three children, Augustin, ten, Mercedes, eight, and Victor, four.

There are varying reports regarding whose birthday the family was celebrating during their trip to the Big Apple. While New Jersey Mayor Steven Fulop said the family was celebrating the birthday of Escobar's wife, New York Mayor Eric Adams shared that the family trip was to celebrate one of their daughters’ birthdays, as per People.

New York helicopter crash claims lives of family of five on birthday trip

At around 3.15 pm local time on Thursday, shortly after the helicopter took off from Downtown Manhattan Heliport, it appeared to fall apart mid-air before crashing into the Hudson River.

New Jersey Mayor Fulop, who has been posting regular updates about the crash on his social media account, recently shared through his X (formerly Twitter) account that the Siemens executive was in the US on business and that his "family flew out to extend the trip a couple days in NYC."

He further wrote, "They were celebrating the mom’s 40th bday with the tourist helicopter flight yesterday."

The New Jersey mayor also mentioned that the officials are working "to expedite release of the family to fly back to Spain," while adding that their family members were en route to the US.

New York City Mayor Adams, on the other hand, shared that the family was also celebrating the birthday of one of their daughters. 

As per the Daily Mail, the Spanish outlet Antena3 reported that the family was in New York to celebrate one of the girls’ birthdays, who would have turned nine this week. 

In another report, the Daily Mail shared that one of their bereaved family members, Joan Camprubi Montal, posted a heartbreaking tribute on X on Friday. The post, accompanied by a photo of the family, contained the letter signed by 19 members of the Escobar and Camprubi Montal families. 

New York Helicopter Tours CEO left 'devastated' by the accident

Michael Roth, the CEO of the New York Helicopter Tours, the company that was conducting the aerial tour, said that he was left "devastated" after the accident. 

"It’s devastation," Roth said to the New York Post, before adding, "I’m a father and a grandfather and to have children on there, I’m devastated. I’m absolutely devastated."

He continued, "The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter. And I haven’t seen anything like that in my 30 years being in business, in the helicopter business."

"The only thing I could guess – I got no clue – is that it either had a bird strike or the main rotor blades failed. I have no clue. I don’t know. This is horrific," the visibly shaken 71-year-old further shared. 

"But you gotta remember something, these are machines and they break," Roth concluded.