*Family was in Big Apple for son’s birthday
The Spanish family on the ill-fated helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River — killing everyone onboard — were in the Big Apple to celebrate one of their children’s birthdays and the mom’s 40th, Mayor Eric Adams and sources said Friday.
Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, and their three young children – ages 4, 8 and 10 years old — all died when their sightseeing chopper broke apart in midair and plunged into the murky waters Thursday afternoon.
The pilot was also killed.
Hizzoner said the 8-year-old was set to celebrate their birthday Friday.
The mom had also just turned 40, a law enforcement source said, though it wasn’t immediately clear when.
“So this is probably part of the normal tourist attraction of seeing the city from the skyline,” Adams told FOX5 New York. “But it’s just a real unfortunate situation. And our heart goes out to the family members.”
Escobar — who was the global CEO of rail infrastructure at his company — was in the city on business and his family flew in from Barcelona to extend the trip a few days, Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey City, wrote in a post on X.
The family had just touched down in the Big Apple from Barcelona earlier in the day and immediately set off on the sightseeing flight, law enforcement sources earlier told The Post.
In the lead up to the doomed flight, gut-wrenching photos showed the smiling family posing for snaps in front of the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV helicopter.
The flight departed a downtown heliport at about 3 p.m. and lasted less than 18 minutes, radar data show.
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Not long after the group ascended, the pilot radioed base to warn that they were running out of fuel.
Moments later, tragedy struck as the chopper split in half, FDNY officials said.
Video of the crash showed parts of the aircraft tumbling through the air and crashing into the water as it headed south along the Manhattan skyline.
The main rotor was still spinning without the helicopter as it fell, one harrowing clip shows.
Four of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while two others died at the hospital, officials said.
Meanwhile, the mangled wreck — which was owned and operated by New York Helicopter — was pulled from the river late Thursday.
Dive operations to retrieve remnants of the chopper continued into Friday.
“It’s devastation,” New York Helicopter Tours CEO Michael Roth told The Post in the aftermath. “I’m a father and a grandfather, and to have children on there, I’m devastated. I’m absolutely devastated.
“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.”
