Over the years, there have been multiple crashes, including a collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson River in 2009 that killed nine people and the 2018 crash of a charter helicopter offering "open door" flights that went down into the East River, killing five people.

Siemens’ Spanish branch CEO Agustín Escobar took off in a Bell 206 helicopter at around 2:59 p.m. on Thursday with his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, and their three kids. The flight lasted less than 20 minutes and crashed near the Jersey City shoreline in New Jersey, killing the family and the pilot.