The tech executive, his wife, and three young children came from Spain to tour New York City.
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Siemens CEO and Family Identified as Victims of NYC Helicopter Crash
OUT OF THE BLUE
The tech executive, his wife, and three young children came from Spain to tour New York City.
Julia Ornedo
Reporter
Updated Apr. 11 2025 6:19AM EDT Published Apr. 10 2025 10:18PM EDT
The Spanish CEO of one of the world’s biggest tech companies, his wife and three young children died Thursday in a helicopter crash off Manhattan.
Agustin Escobar, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal, and their children aged 4, 5, and 11 all died when their tourist flight to see New York City plunged into the Hudson River. The 36-year-old pilot, who has not been named, was also killed.
Escobar was the CEO of European tech giant Siemens’ operations in Spain.
The family came to New York City from Barcelona and were staying at the Hotel Riu Plaza, the Daily Beast has learned.
Escobar was named CEO of Siemens Spain in
November 2022. He had been with the company for
nearly three decades.
Augustin Escobar and Merce Camprubi Montel with their children in an undated photo. Facebook
“With Agustin Escobar, we have the best possible successor to lead, from now on, the company in Spain,” Escobar’s predecessor Miguel Angel Lopez said in a statement at the time. “In recent years, his work has been key to Siemens’ success in the field of mobility and transport.”
In a press conference late Thursday afternoon, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said a Bell 206 helicopter flying for New York Helicopter Tours departed from the downtown Manhattan heliport at 2:59 p.m. ET.
Divers arrived near Pier 40 in Manhattan within minutes and took immediate lifesaving measures, but four people died on the scene while two others succumbed to their injuries at a local hospital.
Merce Camprubi Montel while skiing with her children. Facebook
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the helicopter was flying in the Special Flight Rules Area, meaning there were no air traffic control services when it crashed.
“Several minutes prior to entering the Special Flight Rules Area, Air Traffic Control from LaGuardia airport was providing support,” he wrote in a post on X. “The FAA will have investigators on site tonight and we are also launching a Safety Review Team later tonight.”
We pray for the victims and their families.
Here’s what we know:
The tour helicopter was in the Special Flight Rules Area established in New York which means no air traffic control services were being provided when the helicopter crashed. Several minutes prior to entering the…
https://t.co/aQ4vsREOOJ
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy)
April 11, 2025
New York Helicopter Tours CEO Michael Roth told the
New York Post he was “devastated” by the tragedy.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, [is] that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” he said. “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.”
Rescue workers and emergency personnel work at the scene of a helicopter crash. Eduardo Munoz/Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
President Donald Trump also mourned the “terrible” crash in a Truth Social post.
“The footage of the accident is horrendous,” he wrote. “God bless the families and friends of the victims.”