At least 38 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York City since 1977, when an accident on a skyscraper landing pad led the city to start putting restrictions on where choppers could land.
Helicopter flights are getting renewed scrutiny after a fatal crash into the Hudson River on Thursday.
The sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed upside-down into the river, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists in the latest U.S. aviation disaster, officials said.
The victims included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Monta, a global manager at an energy technology company, and three children, in addition to the pilot.
Photos posted on the helicopter company’s website showed the couple and their children smiling as they boarded just before the flight took off. The flight departed a downtown heliport around 3 p.m. and lasted less than 18 minutes. Radar data showed it flew north along the Manhattan skyline and then back south toward the Statue of Liberty.
Video of the crash showed parts of the aircraft tumbling through the air into the water near the shoreline of Jersey City, New Jersey.
Here is a look at helicopter accidents in New York over the years:
2025: Six people are killed when a helicopter plummets into the Hudson River just off Manhattan.
2021: A helicopter sustained significant damage during a hard landing at a Manhattan helipad. The pilot and a co-pilot were not hurt.
2019: A helicopter used for executive travel hits the roof of a Manhattan skyscraper in restricted airspace. The pilot is killed.
2019: A charter helicopter goes into the Hudson River and sinks while being maneuvered at a heliport. The pilot escapes.
2018: Five people drown when a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights crashes in the East River. The pilot survives.
2011: Three people die when a helicopter carrying a family on an outing plunges into the East River.
2009: A sightseeing helicopter carrying Italian tourists collides with a private plane over the Hudson River, killing nine.
2007: A sightseeing helicopter drops into the Hudson River when it experiences a mechanical problem after lifting off from a West Side heliport. Everyone makes it out safely.
2005: A corporate helicopter carrying MBNA Corp. executives falls into the East River after taking off from the East 34th Street heliport. The pilot is seriously injured but everyone survives.
2005: A sightseeing helicopter goes into the East River while trying to take off from the Wall Street heliport. A British tourist nearly drowns.
2004: A WNBC-TV news helicopter hits a building in Brooklyn and disintegrates while covering a story. All occupants survive.
1997: One person is killed and a second is badly injured when a helicopter owned by the Colgate-Palmolive Co. falls into the East River after taking off from the 60th Street heliport.
1990: One person dies after the pilot of an Island Helicopter air taxi misjudges the wind during a takeoff from the East 34th Street heliport and flies into the river.
1988: A passenger drowns when a sightseeing helicopter loses power and makes a forced landing in the East River.
1986: An NBC radio traffic reporter dies when the helicopter she is riding in loses lift, hits a fence and crashes into the Hudson.
1985: A passenger drowns when a sightseeing flight operated by New York Helicopters crashes into the East River after taking off from the East 34th Street heliport.
1983: A seaplane coming in for a landing on the East River collides with a police helicopter over the Brooklyn waterfront, killing four people.
1981: Hijackers seize a sightseeing helicopter and order the pilot to fly to a federal jail in Manhattan in an unsuccessful attempt to free a prisoner waiting on the roof.
1977: A rotor breaks loose from a New York Airways helicopter on a landing pad atop the Pan Am Building and kills five people, including one on the street two blocks away. The helipad closes after the accident.
