Beaming at the camera and sitting proudly in the cockpit of a helicopter on the eve of her ninth birthday, a little girl excitedly waited to take off and embark on a tour over the iconic New York City skyline with her parents and young siblings on Thursday.

But just 16 minutes later, tragedy struck when the eight-year-old, who had travelled to the Big Apple from Spain with her family, was killed in a horror crash after the chopper plummeted into the Hudson River at 3.15pm yesterday.

Her siblings, aged ten and four, also died in the horror crash, as well as her father Agustin Escobar, a Siemens executive, and mother Merce Camprubi Montal.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed the children’s ages and said in a statement that the devastating crash ‘was a real unfortunate situation. And our heart goes out to the family members’.

The family were on vacation in New York to celebrate her ninth birthday, which would have been today.

The family-of-five had just arrived from Barcelona and embarked on their first day touring the Big Apple, taking a scenic trip in the helicopter as a treat for the young girl and her mother Merce, who officials said was also celebrating her birthday.

Commenting on the tragedy, Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop said: ‘The family flew out to extend the trip a couple days in NYC. They were celebrating the mom’s 40th birthday with the tourist helicopter flight yesterday.’

It was unclear whether Fulop was referring to the holiday overall being a birthday trip for Merce or if the little girl’s mother was also celebrating her birthday on the fateful day.

The tragic twist emerged as terrifying new footage appears to show the cause of the tragedy.

A rotor blade can be seen plummeting into the water, with aviation experts saying that this likely occurred because the main rotor blades separated from the aircraft and sliced the tail.

‘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 main causes of this phenomenon are mechanical failure or excessive maneuvering. Still, a full investigation is needed to understand why this tragedy 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 in the case that the separating rotor blades sliced off the aircraft’s tail boom, the flight would have been unrecoverable.

‘If that articulating head actually separated from the aircraft, the aircraft was doomed. There’s no possibility of that aircraft ever having made a normal type of landing. It was going to crash,’ said Tristani.

‘In this particular case though, when you throw a blade, one blade or the entire head, no, you’re just a falling brick.’

Michael Roth, 71, who owns New York Helicopter which provided the tour and the chopper, said the aircraft was running out of fuel before it crashed.

‘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 Telegraph.

Roth said he was devastated by the crash and agreed with other experts that the video appears to show the main rotor blades had broken off.

‘The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,’ he told the New York Post.

‘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.’

A ‘catastrophic mechanical failure’ left the pilot with no chance to save the helicopter, said Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps.

It is possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Green said.

‘They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,’ Green said. ‘There’s no indication they had any control over the craft. No pilot could have prevented that accident once they lost the lifts. It’s like a rock falling to the ground. It’s heartbreaking.’

It comes as it was revealed that the helicopter’s unidentified pilot, 36, radioed base to warn that they were running out of fuel just before the tragedy struck. He was also killed in the crash.

Heartbreaking photos showed the Escobar parents and their kids, aged four, eight and 10, posing on the helipad and inside the aircraft before the crash.

The aircraft was operated by New York Helicopter, a local tour company. The chopper appeared to be a N216MH – a Bell 206L-4, according to Flight Radar.

The helicopter flew for approximately 16 minutes before going down into the water.  It took off from the Wall Street Heliport and did a circle near the Statue of Liberty before flying up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge at about 1000 feet.

Dramatic video showed the helicopter sinking into the water as emergency crews rushed to the scene.

Witnesses said they saw the chopper ‘split in half’ before it went down near Pier 40, with one man reporting the stricken aircraft making what sounded like a ‘sonic boom.’

‘Oh my god. Oh my gosh. Oh my goodness. Oh my gosh,’ said a terrified witness who watched the helicopter fall into the river.

Bruce Wall, a witness near the shoreline of Jersey City, New Jersey, said he saw the helicopter ‘falling apart’ in midair, with the tail and main rotor coming off. The main rotor was still spinning without the helicopter as it fell.

Dani Horbiak was at her Jersey City home when she heard what sounded like ‘several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air.’ She looked out her window and saw the chopper ‘splash in several pieces into the river.’

The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with ‘a bunch of smoke coming out’ before it slammed into the water, said Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey.

On air traffic control radio, an NYPD helicopter pilot can be heard saying, ‘Be advised, you do have an aircraft down. Holland Tunnel. Please keep your eyes open for anybody in the water.’

About five minutes after that, someone asks, ‘Hey Finest,’ a reference to the NYPD’s call sign, ‘what’s going on over there by the Holland Tunnel?’ – ‘The ship went down,’ someone else responds.

Emergency responders were seen late Thursday night pulling the remnants of the destroyed helicopter from the murky water of the Hudson River. Photos showed a crane pulling mangled clumps of metal out of the river.

Jersey City Mayor Steven explained in a post on X that major parts of the aircraft have not yet been recovered, so dive teams will scour the Hudson River for the parts on Friday.

‘Recovery operations have been secured for the night. Major parts of the aircraft have not been recovered so dive operations by the NYPD and NJSP will resume tomorrow morning,’ he said.

Four people were pronounced dead at the scene, and two others were taken to the hospital, where they ‘succumbed to their injuries,’ NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

At the time of the crash, it was cloudy with winds around 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph, CNN reported.

Surface visibility was considered good — 10 miles — but it was cloudy as a system is moving into the region, bringing light rain to the region this afternoon and evening. The water was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Other footage showed the chopper ‘flying erratically’ just before it fell into the water, while other clips showed pieces of the aircraft were seen flying off.

‘Our hearts go out to the families of those who were onboard,’ Mayor Eric Adams said. ‘All six have been removed from the water, and sadly all six victims have been pronounced deceased.’

Rashmi Kamkeri, a 30-year-old engineer, was working remotely from her apartment in Newport Park when she heard a deafening crash about 3:19 p.m. on 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 saw a piece of the helicopter fall into the water. The Waterway boat was moving and then it took a turn.

‘I was almost in tears praying that someone would come and save them. I wished there would be someone who survives. I am so sad.’

Anna was walking her rescue dog Archie along the West Side Highway in the rain when she saw the emergency responders and lights across the river on the New Jersey side.

‘I saw the helicopter submerged in the water and then there was a lot of commotion,’ she told DailyMail.com.

Another witness said: ‘One of my children said, ‘what’s that sound?’ I told him I didn’t know. My other child said, ‘Do you think it was an earthquake?’ I said, ‘no we would feel it.’

‘My other child asked, ‘Do you think a building pancaked?”

Escobar worked for the tech company Siemens for more than 27 years, most recently as global CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, according to his LinkedIn account. In late 2022 he briefly became president and CEO of Siemens Spain.

In a post about the position, he thanked his family, ‘my endless source of energy and happiness, for their unconditional support, love… and patience.’

Escobar regularly posted about the importance of sustainability in the rail industry and often traveled internationally for work, including journeying to India and the UK in the past month. He also was vice president of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.

‘We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all their loved ones,’ Siemens said in a statement early Friday.

Camprubí Montal worked in Barcelona, Spain, for energy technology company Siemens Energy for about seven years, including as global commercialisation manager and as a digitalisation manager, according to her LinkedIn account.

Spanish regional government officials said the family resided in Barcelona.

‘(I am) dismayed by the tragic helicopter accident in the Hudson River in New York which cost the lives of six people, five of which were members of a Barcelona family,’ Catalan regional president Salvador Illa wrote on X.

Another regional official said Agustin Escobar was originally from Puertollano, a town in central Spain.

‘I want to express my sorrow for the traffic helicopter accident in New York that claimed the lives of Agustín Escobar and his family,’ Castilla La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page wrote on X.

‘Agustín is native of Puertollano and in 2023 we named him a Favorite Son of Castilla La Mancha.’

The skies above the Hudson River are often filled with both planes and helicopters that both fly private recreational, commercial and tourists flights.

Manhattan has multiple helipads that are used by people, including business executives, to get across the Metropolitan area.

At least 32 have been killed in helicopter crashes in New York City since 1977.

The most recent crash happened in 2018 when a chopper hit crashed into the East River, leaving five passengers dead.

The chopper crashed on March 11, 2018 when the tail of the aircraft got caught on the fuel shutoff lever, the NTSB said.

All the passengers on board drowned. They were identified as Daniel Thompson, 34, Tristian Hill, 29, Trevor Cadigan, 26, Brian McDaniel, 26, and Carla Vallejos-Blanco, 29.

One of the six victims who died in the tragic Hudson River helicopter crash on Thursday has a surprising link to one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world.

Agustín Escobar, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal and their three children died along with the pilot of the chopper as the Spanish family’s sightseeing tour of New York City went horribly wrong.

It has since emerged that Camprubi Montal is the relative of two former FC Barcelona presidents.

She was the great-granddaughter of Agusti Montal Galobart, who ran the Catalan giants from 1946 to 1952, and also the granddaughter of Agusti Montal Costa.

The latter was in charge at Barca from 1969 to 1977, and made his mark by bringing Johan Cruyff to the club and helping them win the league title for the 1973-74 season.

Spanish regional government officials said after the crash that the family resided in Barcelona.

‘(I am) dismayed by the tragic helicopter accident in the Hudson River in New York which cost the lives of six people, five of which were members of a Barcelona family,’ Catalan regional president Salvador Illa wrote on X.

Another regional official said Escobar was originally from Puertollano, a town in central Spain.

He worked for the tech company Siemens for more than 27 years, most recently as global CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, according to his LinkedIn account. In late 2022 he briefly became president and CEO of Siemens Spain.

Camprubí Montal also worked for Siemens Energy for about seven years, including as global commercialization manager and as a digitalization manager, according to her LinkedIn account.

Their children were just four, eight and ten years old when their sightseeing chopper plummeted into the Hudson River at 3:15pm on Thursday.

Aviation experts said afterwards that, based on footage, the crash likely occurred because the main rotor blades separated from the aircraft and sliced the tail.

‘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 main causes of this phenomenon are mechanical failure or excessive maneuvering. Still, a full investigation is needed to understand why this tragedy 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.’

Michael Roth, 71, who owns New York Helicopter which provided the tour and the chopper, said the aircraft was running out of fuel before it crashed.

‘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 Telegraph.

Roth said he was devastated by the crash and agreed with other experts that the video appears to show the main rotor blades had broken off.

‘The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,’ he told the New York Post.

Dramatic video showed the helicopter sinking into the water as emergency crews rushed to the scene.

Emergency responders were seen late Thursday night pulling the remnants of the destroyed helicopter from the water of the Hudson River.

Witnesses said they saw the chopper ‘split in half’ before it went down near Pier 40, with one man reporting the stricken aircraft making what sounded like a ‘sonic boom.’

Other footage showed the chopper ‘flying erratically’ just before it fell into the water, while other clips showed pieces of the aircraft were seen flying off.

 According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, two of the victims were still alive when they were pulled out of the water, though it is unclear if they were conscious.

They later ‘succumbed to their injuries’ at the hospital,’ Tisch said.

Heartbreakingly, it also emerged after that the family was on vacation to celebrate the birthday of one of their young children.

According to Spanish outlet Antena3, one of their daughters would have turned nine years old on Friday.

Anonymous calls were made ahead of a bomb exploding in a British tourist hotspot in Greece on Friday night – and just yards away from the headquarters of a train company involved in the country’s worst ever rail disaster.

Police revealed that anonymous calls to Greek media warned of the attack outside the Hellenic Train offices in Athens at 8.53pm local time.

The company was involved in a horrific rail crash between a freight train and a passenger train which claimed 57 lives in 2023.

An unknown man is said to have warned that the bomb, placed inside a backpack, would explode in ’30 to 40 minutes’ and said that ‘it is not a prank’, The Sun reported.

There were no immediate reports of injuries following the blast in an area brimming with hotels, restaurants and tourist rentals.

The Hellenic Train building also appeared undamaged.

Greek daily Efsyn and news website Zougla, both of which received a call, said the explosive device had apparently been hidden in a padlocked backpack, placed on a scooter without licence plates.

A police bomb disposal squad arrived too late to detonate the device, which had been placed near the Hellenic Train building on Syngrou Avenue before it exploded, they said.

However, a nearby hotel had earlier been evacuated, state TV ERT said.

The attack was similar to one targeting the Greek ministry of labour in February 2024.

Today’s blast comes amid continuing anger over a major crash in February 2023, when 57 people, most of them young students, died after a passenger train and a freight train collided in Tempe, central Greece.

The crash occurred after both trains were allowed to run on the same track.

Thousands have turned out to strike and protest in Greece and abroad since the second anniversary of the collision.

It also brought about two votes of no confidence last year and again in March that the conservative government overcame.

The train’s Italian-owned operator Hellenic Train has denied knowledge of any illegal cargo on the freight train.

More than 40 people have been prosecuted, including the local station master responsible for routing the trains.

A trial into the accident is not expected before the end of the year.

Earlier on Friday, the parliament voted to refer a former junior minister to justice on possible misdemeanour charges for breach of duty in connection to the aftermath of the accident.

Opposition parties say Christos Triantopoulos, who was dispatched by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the scene after the accident, authorised the bulldozing of the crash site which led to the loss of vital evidence.

Triantopoulos denies any wrongdoing and says he was overseeing relief efforts.

Greece’s intercity trains went under private management in 2017, when state-owned Greek rail traffic services operator TrainOSE was privatised and sold to Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, becoming Hellenic Train.

Greek state company OSE still owns the tracks.

Hellenic Train’s former CEO Maurizio Capotorto has reportedly been summoned to testify before a magistrate, on suspicion of giving false testimony to a parliamentary committee into the disaster in January 2024.

Greece has a long history of politically-motivated violence dating back to the 1970s, with domestic extremist groups carrying out small-scale bombings which usually cause damage but rarely lead to injuries.

While the groups most active in the 1980s and 1990s have been dismantled, new small groups have emerged.

Last year, a man believed to have been trying to assemble a bomb was killed when the explosive device he was making exploded in a central Athens apartment. A woman inside the apartment was severely injured.

The blast had prompted Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrisochoidis to warn of an emerging new generation of domestic extremists.