THE tragic first picture of the birthday girl who died in the Hudson River helicopter crash alongside her family has been released.
Dad Agustin Escobar, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal and their three children – aged four to 11 – all died along with the pilot on Thursday afternoon.
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The little girl was captured with a beaming smile on her face as she sat in the helicopter next to the pilot before takeoff.
She was aged just eight and was due to turn nine on Friday with the family said to have hired the chopper to celebrate the birthday.
Catalan radio station RAC1 reported: “They [the family] had hired a helicopter ride to the Statue of Liberty because it was one of the children’s birthdays.”
A heartbreaking set of final pictures showed the family posing on the doomed New York aircraft moments before their tragic deaths.
read more in helicopter crash
The gut-wrenching photos, published on the New York Helicopter Tours website, show the family smiling as they posed in front the doomed Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV.
They were later seen strapped inside the aircraft, excited for what was meant to be a dream tour over Manhattan.
But tragedy struck around 3.15 pm, when the helicopter reportedly broke apart midair and dropped into the Hudson, killing four people on impact.
Two others were later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Terrifying videos show the chopper completely upside down as New York Police Department boats rushed to the wreck.
The cause of the horror plunge hasn’t been confirmed.
The Spanish family had landed in New York just hours earlier, having flown in from Barcelona to kick off their vacation.
Escobar, a 25-year veteran of the international tech and mobility scene, had held top positions across the globe — including Spain, South America, and the U.S.
Most recently, he was appointed Global CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility in October.
His wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, also had an impressive career.
She worked as a global commercialization manager at Siemens Energy in Barcelona for seven years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The Spanish mum was reportedly related to two former Barcelona FC presidents, including one who brought Johan Cruyff to the club.
Montal was the great-granddaughter of Augusti Montal Galobart, Barcelona’s president from 1946 to 1952, and the granddaughter of Augusti Montal Costa, who was in charge of the Catalan club from 1969 to 1977.
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