Who was Agustín Escobar, the Siemens Spain CEO who died with his family in a helicopter crash in New York?
Agustín Escobar, CEO of Siemens Spain, was among six people killed when a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York, including his wife and three young children.
Agustín Escobar, the CEO of Siemens Spain, tragically died on Thursday when the helicopter he was traveling in crashed into the Hudson River in New York, United States. Escobar, along with his wife and their three children, was on a sightseeing tour operated by New York Helicopter Tours. Sadly, all five family members lost their lives in the accident.
Escobar had over 25 years of experience within the German tech conglomerate. Since joining Siemens in 1998, he held several leadership roles in the company’s energy automation division, eventually becoming head of Siemens Spain’s power distribution unit a decade later. Between 2010 and 2014, he held key executive positions in Siemens' American divisions, first in New York and later in Bogotá, Colombia, where he became CEO of the Infrastructure and Cities sector for Latin America. In 2018, Escobar returned to Siemens Spain.
Agustín Escobar was president of Siemens Spain since 2022
In December 2019, Escobar was appointed Executive President of Siemens Mobility for Southern Europe, a role he held until October 2024. In 2022, he was also named President and CEO of Siemens Spain, succeeding Miguel Ángel López. Since October 2024, Fernando Silva has taken over these roles, as Escobar moved on to lead Siemens Mobility's global Rail Infrastructure division.
Born in 1975, Escobar earned an Industrial Engineering degree from the ICAI School of Engineering at Comillas Pontifical University in 1999. He went on to complete an MBA at the University of Alcalá in 2002, followed by an Executive MBA at IE Business School in 2005.
Beyond Siemens, Escobar co-founded the start-up TMR Online in 2007 and served on the board of the transportation innovation think tank CENIT. During his years in Latin America, he was also a member of Colombia’s Management Progress Association. Since 2018, he had served on the advisory board to the President of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE).
Police confirm six fatalities in the crash
According to local police, the tragic crash occurred around 3:15 p.m. Thursday in the Hudson River and resulted in six fatalities. While Spain’s embassy only confirmed the deaths of five Spanish nationals, ABC News reported that Escobar was accompanied by his wife, Merce Camprubí Montal, and their three children, aged 4, 5, and 11. The helicopter pilot, whose identity has not been disclosed, also died in the crash.
The accident, captured by numerous witnesses, happened just 15 minutes into what was the helicopter’s sixth tourist flight of the day. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently investigating the cause of the crash involving the Bell 206 helicopter.