A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart and crashed into the Hudson River near the New Jersey shoreline, killing the pilot and a Spanish family of five who were on board. Pieces of the aircraft could be seen floating in the river on Friday as divers searched for clues about what caused the Thursday crash.

In 1985, a Dauphin 360C helicopter operated by the Garden City, Long Island-based company, New York Helicopter, carrying six passengers, crash-landed in the East River, killing a man identified by reports at the time as a 40-year-old businessman from West Germany. Five additional passengers and two crew members survived.