After deadly helicopter crash in New York, tour company shuts down operations, FAA says

New York Helicopter Excursions, the corporate concerned in the deadly crash on the Hudson River last week, is shutting down its operations instantly, the Federal Aviation Administration introduced on Sunday evening.

The FAA stated it is going to be launching “an instantaneous evaluation of the tour operator’s license and security document because it proceed to help the Nationwide Transportation Security Board’s investigation into Thursday evening’s crash that killed a household of 5 from Spain and the chopper’s pilot.

“Lastly, on the subject of helicopter security broadly: The FAA is already analyzing airplane/helicopter hotspots nationwide, and we will probably be internet hosting a helicopter security panel on April 22 to debate the findings, dangers, and extra mitigation choices,” the FAA stated in an announcement on X. “Security is the FAA’s primary precedence, and we is not going to hesitate to behave to guard the flying public.”

The announcement comes following an earlier request Sunday by Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer that New York Helicopter Tours pause all flights whereas the NTSB investigates the fatal crash.

Schumer accuses helicopter tour firms of “slicing corners”

Schumer, New York’s senior U.S. senator, additionally referred to as on the FAA to ramp up security inspections for different helicopter tour firms, accusing them of “slicing corners and placing income over folks.”

The victims of Thursday’s crash included passengers Agustin Escobar, 49, his spouse, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, and their three kids, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. The pilot was Sean Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who obtained his industrial pilot’s license in 2023.

“One of many issues we are able to do to honor these lives and attempt to save others is to verify it would not occur once more,” Schumer stated. “We all know there’s one factor for certain about New York Metropolis’s helicopter tour firms: they’ve a lethal monitor document.”

The crash has renewed security issues about New York’s sightseeing excursions, a preferred vacationer draw that whisks passengers excessive above town, providing hovering views of the Statue of Liberty, the World Commerce Middle and different landmarks.

Hours after the crash, Mayor Eric Adams instructed CBS News New York, “helicopters are safe and it’s part of the New York experience.”

Renewed helicopter security issues in NYC

Within the final twenty years, 5 helicopters on industrial sightseeing flights have fallen into the Hudson and East rivers on account of mechanical failures, pilot errors or collisions, killing 20 folks.

Metropolis Councilwoman Gale Brewer stated she has been sounding the alarm for many years.

“I would like to see a legislation in Congress signed by the president that claims helicopters, non-essential, can’t fly over New York Metropolis or every other metropolis,” Brewer stated.

As household and associates proceed to grieve, they’re in search of accountability.

“One thing completely has to vary, as a result of not solely was Sean’s life misplaced, however, you already know, two mother and father and three kids, you already know,” stated Remi Adeleke, a pal of the pilot Johnson.

The president of New York Helicopter Excursions, Michael Roth, didn’t reply to cellphone and e mail inquiries. The corporate had stated in an announcement printed on its web site that it was cooperating with authorities within the investigation.

In response to Schumer’s requires extra oversight, an business group, Jap Area Helicopter Council, stated Manhattan’s sightseeing choppers “already function below essentially the most stringent of laws,” because it generates $78 million yearly to New York Metropolis.

“We stand able to work with leaders on discovering methods to make sure the security and preservation of our companies and aviation neighborhood,” the group stated.

Critics of the business have lengthy sought to restrict or totally ban nonessential helicopter flights from taking off above town, although they’ve had restricted success. After New York Metropolis capped the variety of flights that might take off from Manhattan heliports at 30,000 yearly in 2016, many firms moved operations to New Jersey.

Two years later, in 2018, 5 folks died when a helicopter providing “open door” flights crashed within the East River after a passenger’s restraint tether snagged on a gasoline change, stopping the engine.

The reason for Thursday’s crash has not but been decided. In line with Schumer, dive groups on Sunday continued to scour chilly waters for a rotor and a gearbox, lacking helicopter components that might maintain clues.

contributed to this report.