The household of 5 aboard the doomed vacationer helicopter that plummeted into the Hudson River Thursday was tragically in New York Metropolis to have a good time the birthday of considered one of their three younger youngsters.
Agustin Escobar, his spouse, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three youngsters — ages 4, 5 and 11 — have been killed together with an unidentified pilot when the chopper went down into the murky waters of the Hudson.
The household had simply arrived within the Large Apple from Barcelona, Spain, to mark the birthday of considered one of their youngsters, Spanish newspaper El Diario reported.
After touching down within the metropolis, the household determined to spend their first day touring Manhattan by taking a scenic journey overlooking the Statue of Liberty.
Earlier than their doomed expedition, Escobar, Montal and their youngsters have been seen smiling in entrance of the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV helicopter in gut-wrenching images on the New York Helicopter Excursions web site.
Not lengthy after the group ascended, the unidentified pilot, 36, radioed base to warn that they have been operating out of gas.
Moments later, tragedy struck because the chopper break up in half because it flew over the Hudson between New York and New Jersey at round 3:15 p.m. — simply 16 minutes after take-off, FDNY officers stated.
The pilot was additionally killed within the crash.
Escobar has since been recognized because the International CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, whereas his spouse was a world commercialization supervisor at Siemens Power, in accordance with her LinkedIn profile. She was the granddaughter of Agustí Montal Costa, the previous president of FC Barcelona soccer membership.
Harrowing video footage confirmed the fuselage plummeting the wrong way up, leading to a big splash close to Pier 40 on West Houston Road and West Road.
Witnesses described listening to a “growth sound” in the mean time of affect after the helicopter’s propellers spun individually uncontrolled into the river.
4 victims have been pronounced lifeless on the scene, and two extra have been declared lifeless on the hospital, officers stated.
The mangled wreck of the sightseeing helicopter was lifted out of the chilly waters of the Hudson late Thursday night time as dive operations continues into Friday.
The proprietor of the vacationer helicopter on Thursday informed The Submit he’s “devastated” by the tragedy.
“It’s devastation,” New York Helicopter Excursions CEO Michael Roth solely informed us. “I’m a father and a grandfather and to have youngsters on there, I’m devastated. I’m completely devastated.
“The one factor I do know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the primary rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” he went on.
“And I haven’t seen something like that in my 30 years being in enterprise, within the helicopter enterprise. The one factor I might guess — I received no clue — is that it both had a chicken strike or the primary rotor blades failed. I’ve no clue. I don’t know.
“That is horrific,” Roth added. “However you gotta bear in mind one thing, these are machines and so they break.”
President Trump has since spoken out, calling the incident “horrible.”
“Horrible crash,” he wrote on Fact Social. “The video of the accident is horrific. God bless the households and pals of the victims,” he added, partly.
