On October 22, 1986, Dornacker was giving one of the station's N-Copter traffic reports during the "Joey Reynolds Show" on WNBC in New York City. At 4:44 p.m., the Enstrom F-28 helicopter she was aboard plunged into the Hudson River from an altitude of roughly . Her last words were, "Hit the water, hit the water, hit the water!" The F-28 helicopter nose-dived, struck the top of a chain link fence at a river pier, crashed into the Hudson River very near to the Manhattan shore and sank in of water. Both occupants were trapped for nearly 10–15 minutes before help arrived. Dornacker died on her way to Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center. Pilot Bill Pate, the only other occupant, was severely injured but survived.