The sightseeing chopper New York Helicopter Tours, which crashed into the Hudson River last week and killed six people, is going to stop operations right away, according to the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) on Sunday. The action comes as a result of rising demands from federal lawmakers and renewed attention of the state’s helicopter tour business.
In a statement posted on X just after US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged officials to withdraw the company’s permit, the FAA announced that it was beginning an instant assessment of New York Helicopter Tours ‘ operating license and safety record.
All passengers on board on Thursday were killed, including captain Sean Johnson, 36, a veteran of the US Navy, and five members of a visiting relatives from Spain: Agustin Escobar, 49, his family Mercè Camprubi Montal, 39, their children Agustin, 10, Mercedes, 8, and Vctor, 4. The home had left Barcelona for New York the same day.
Schumer called the accident” a dreadful consequence of governmental loopholes” and demanded a clampdown on tour operators before the FAA statement. Making sure it doesn’t happen again is one of the things we can do to recognize those life and try to save people, he said. We are aware of one item for certain about the helicopter tour companies in New York City: they have a notorious track record.
The aircraft was operating in accordance with FAA’s” Component 91″ regulations, which are more loose in terms of safety and training requirements than more stringent corporate flight regulations. According to Schumer,” The guidelines under Component 91 just aren’t tight enough when people’s lives are on the line.” He warned that these peaceful standards help businesses to” reduce corners and put profits over people.”
When witnesses saw the ill-fated helicopter trailing dust before it spiraled out of control and crashed into the river, it had been on its ninth flight of the day. The blade was filmed flying off in midair in video images. The accident occurred less than 20 minutes after takeoff from a Manhattan airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is now in charge of the investigation.
Authorities believe that a structural issue does have caused severe midair disintegration when the main rotor struck the tail. No final decision will be made until those parts are recovered, as NTSB authorities confirmed that the plane’s main rotor and distribution are also missing.
New York Helicopter Tours has a turbulent past. According to FAA records, the 2004-built aircraft had a reported transmission issue next year. One of its planes lost power in mid-flight in 2013 despite the captain making a safe landing. The business has recently filed for bankruptcy and has been sued for unpaid bills numerous times.
Additionally, Schumer advocated for more frequent FAA corridor checks for all tour providers, including FlyNYON, a second controller being investigated after a 2018 fall in the East River resulted in the death of five individuals. FlyNYON was recently found guilty of that affair by a jury.
The Eastern Region Helicopter Council argued that New York sightseeing planes “already operate under the most demanding of laws.” However, critics contend that nonessential plane travel in densely populated areas like Manhattan is still a health risk.
Some airport operators relocated to nearby New Jersey after a 2016 metropolis cap restricted Manhattan’s annual heliport flights to 30 000. However, 20 people have been killed when five traveling aircraft crashed into the Hudson or East River in the last 20 years.
