On the eve of her ninth birthday, a young girl sat proudly in the cockpit of a helicopter, beaming at the camera, excitedly anticipating departure and a tour of the iconic New York City skyline with her parents and younger siblings on Thursday. However, tragedy came only 16 minutes later, at 3:15 p.m. yesterday, when the chopper crashed into the Hudson River, killing the eight-year-old girl had flown to the Big Apple from Spain with her family.

Her mother, Merce Camprubi Montal, and father, Agustin Escobar, a Siemens executive, were killed in the horrible tragedy, together with her two siblings, ages four and ten. New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed the children’s ages in a statement, adding that the terrible incident “was a real unfortunate situation.” Our hearts go out to the family members.

Today would have been her ninth birthday, and the family was celebrating by going on vacation to New York. As a surprise for the young girl and her mother, Merce, who officials claimed was also celebrating her birthday, the family of five, who had recently arrived from Barcelona, began their first day in New York with a wonderful helicopter trip.

“The family flew out to extend the trip a couple of days in NYC,” Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said in response to the tragedy. They used the tourist helicopter flight yesterday to celebrate their mother’s 40th birthday. It was unclear whether Fulop was referring to the entire vacation as Merce’s birthday or if the terrible day coincided with the birthday of the tiny girl’s mother.

As terrible new footage appears to expose the cause of the catastrophe, the horrific twist is revealed. Aviation experts believe that the main rotor blades separated from the airplane and severed the tail, which is why a rotor blade was seen falling into the ocean. “From the footage, it appears that the main rotor struck the body of the helicopter, cutting off the tail of the helicopter, which created an unrecoverable event,” former military aviator and attorney Jim Brauchle of Motley Rice LLC told DailyMail.com.

“The two primary causes of this occurrence are mechanical breakdown and excessive maneuvering. Still, a thorough inquiry is required to determine why this catastrophe occurred. “Having previously represented the families of tourists killed during a helicopter tour over the Hudson River, my heart goes out to the families at this catastrophic time.” Another expert told Fox 5 that the flight could not have been saved if the splitting rotor blades had severed the aircraft’s tail boom.

“If that articulating head truly disengaged from the airplane, the plane was doomed. That airplane could never have landed normally. “It was going to crash,” Tristani explained. “In this particular case though, when you throw a blade, one blade or the entire head, no, you’re just a falling brick.” According to 71-year-old Michael Roth, owner of New York Helicopter, which provided the tour and helicopter, the jet was running low on fuel prior to the catastrophe.

“He [the pilot] called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel, and it should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but 20 minutes later, he didn’t arrive,” Roth told the newspaper. Roth expressed his sadness about the crash and agreed with other experts that the primary rotor blades seemed to be broken off in the footage. “The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” according to the New York Post.

“And I haven’t seen anything like that in my 30-year career in the helicopter business. The only thing I could surmise – I had no idea – was that it had been struck by a bird or that the main rotor blades failed. I have no idea. I do not know.” A “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no prospect of saving the chopper, according to Justin Green, an aviation lawyer and former Marine Corps helicopter pilot.

The helicopter’s primary rotors may have collided with the tail boom, destroying it and sending the cabin tumbling to the earth, Green noted. “They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,” according to Green. “There’s no evidence that they had any control over the craft. No pilot could have avoided the accident after they lost the lifts. It’s like a rock plummeting to the earth. It is heartbreaking.

It was determined that soon before the catastrophe, the helicopter’s 36-year-old pilot radioed base to inform them that their fuel supply was getting low. The accident also lost his life. The Escobars’ three children, ages four, eight, and ten, were photographed inside the plane and on the helipad prior to the disaster. New York Helicopter, a local tour operator, flew the aircraft. Based on Flight Radar, the helicopter seemed to be a Bell 206L-4, or N216MH.

Before diving into the ocean, the aircraft lingered for around sixteen minutes. It took off from the Wall Street Heliport, circled the Statue of Liberty, and flew at a height of approximately 1000 feet along the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge. As emergency personnel rushed to the scene, dramatic images showed the helicopter crashing into the ocean. One person reported hearing a “sonic boom,” while others claimed to have seen the chopper “split in half” before crashing near Pier 40.

“Oh, my God. Oh my goodness. Oh, goodness. “Oh my gosh,” exclaimed a scared witness who saw the helicopter crash into the river. Bruce Wall, a witness near Jersey City’s shoreline, said he observed the helicopter “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and main rotor coming off. The main rotor continued to spin independently of the chopper as it dropped.

Dani Horbiak heard what sounded like “several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air” while at her Jersey City home. She observed the helicopter “splash in several pieces into the river” as she glanced out the window. Dani Horbiak was at her Jersey City house when she heard what she described as “several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air.” She looked out the window and watched the helicopter “splash in several pieces into the river.”

On air traffic control radio, an NYPD helicopter pilot can be heard saying, “Be advised, you have an aircraft down. Amsterdam Tunnel. Please keep an eye out for anyone in the water. About five minutes later, someone says, “Hey Finest,” referring to the NYPD’s call sign, ‘what’s going on over there near the Holland Tunnel?’ – ‘The ship went down,’ someone else says.

Late Thursday night, emergency responders were seen retrieving the damaged helicopter’s remains from the muddy Hudson River. The images showed a crane collecting twisted metal shards from the river. According to a post on X by Jersey City Mayor Steven, diving personnel will explore the Hudson River on Friday for the aircraft’s missing components. “The recovery efforts have been secured for the night. Major portions of the aircraft have still to be recovered, thus dive efforts by the NYPD and NJSP will start tomorrow morning, he said.

According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, two people were taken to the hospital and “succumbed to their injuries” after four others were pronounced dead at the site. According to CNN, the weather was gloomy with winds ranging from 10 to 15 mph, with gusts reaching 25 mph at the time of the incident. Ten miles of surface visibility was deemed good, although the area was cloudy owing to an approaching system that may bring light rain this afternoon and evening. The water’s temperature was around 50 degrees.

Additional footage shows the helicopter “flying erratically” just before it crashed into the ocean. “Our hearts go out to the families of those who were onboard,” Mayor Eric Adams stated. “All six have been removed from the water, and sadly all six victims have been pronounced deceased.” Rashmi Kamkeri, a 30-year-old engineer working remotely from her Newport Park apartment, heard a loud crash at 3:19 p.m. Thursday.

“It was horrifying,” Kamkeri told DailyMail.com. “I thought it was thunder and ten seconds later I saw the helicopter 10 feet above the water falling and then it made a big splash and went underneath the water.” I panicked. Then I saw a chunk of the helicopter fall into the ocean. The Waterway boat was traveling, and then it turned.” “I was almost in tears, praying that someone would arrive and save them. I wished someone would survive. I’m very sad.”

While walking her rescued dog Archie in the rain on the West Side Highway, Anna observed lights and emergency personnel on the New Jersey side of the river. “I saw the helicopter submerged in the water, and then there was a lot of commotion,” she explained to DailyMail. Another witness stated, “One of my children said, what’s that sound?” I told him I didn’t know. My other youngster asked, “Do you think it was an earthquake?” I replied, “No, we would feel it.”