India, April 11 -- New York Helicopter Tours, the company at the centre of Thursday's deadly crash in the Hudson River - which killed all six people on board - has a prior chopper crash-land history that raises serious questions about its safety record.

Known for flying sightseeing and private tours around New York City, the New York Helicopter Tours's helicopters crashed shortly after takeoff in northern New Jersey in 2015.

The pilot said the chopper began spinning uncontrollably while hovering just 20 feet above the ground. He managed to bring it down with a "hard landing," avoiding fatalities, but the situation could have been far worse.

The helicopter had been in a similar accident years earlier-in Chile in 2010. The National Trans...