A Liberty Tours helicopter with a pilot and five Italian tourists on board collided with a small airplane, carrying two adults and one child, over the Hudson River on August 8, 2009. Rescue crews were reported to be on the scene near 14th Street in Manhattan, where debris could be seen floating in the river.

Two bodies, one definitely believed to be from the crash, were found as of 3:00 p.m. EST on August 8, 2009. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated in a press conference that the operation was changed from a rescue to a recovery, adding he did not feel that accident was survivable.