New York helicopter tour operator behind fatal crash shuts down

Yahoo

14-04-2025

The company that operated the helicopter that crashed into New York City's Hudson River on Thursday – killing all six people on board – has been shuttered with immediate effect, the US's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said late on Sunday.
New York Helicopter Tours is 'shutting down their operations immediately', the FAA said in a statement on X. The agency added that it would launch a review of the company's license and safety records in the meantime.
The tour operator was already the subject of an investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board, which said that the doomed helicopter – a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV – was not equipped with any flight data recording equipment.
Related: Helicopter in fatal New York crash lacked flight recorders, officials say
It was on its eighth tour flight of the day when it crashed into the river near Hoboken, New Jersey, after taking off from Manhattan for an aerial tour of New York City.
Those killed in the crash were the pilot and his passengers: a family of five visiting from Spain.
The family members included the Siemens executive Agustín Escobar, 49, and his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, who was celebrating her 40th birthday at the time of the helicopter crash. The couple were joined by their three children: Víctor, 4; Mercedes, 8; and Agustín, 10.
The pilot, 36-year-old Seankese Johnson, was a US navy veteran who qualified as a commercial pilot in 2023 with more than 800 hours' flying time.
News of the company's closure came after Senator Chuck Schumer of New York urged the FAA to rescind New York Helicopter Tours' operating certificate. The senator also called for the company's operators to 'cease their flights until the investigation is complete'.
'There is one thing for sure about New York City's helicopter tour companies: they have a deadly track record,' Schumer at a Sunday news conference.
He added: 'Eleven people killed in the last few years, and it is usually the companies, not the pilots, that are openly manipulating FAA rules, cutting corners and could well be putting profits over people.'
The company's website was still online on Monday with a message to say it is 'profoundly saddened by the tragic accident and loss of life that occurred on April 10, 2025, involving one of our helicopters in the Hudson River'.
The crash has drawn attention to the safety of civilian helicopter flights around Manhattan. The New York City mayor, Eric Adams has dismissed discussion of a blanket ban on helicopter tours in the city.
'That is part of the attraction of businesses being in the city, people coming to the city, seeing the city from the air,' Adams told NBC after the crash. 'What we must do is make sure it's safe, make sure it's done correctly.'
But on the other side of the Hudson River, in New Jersey, opposition to air tourism is mounting, including from the mayor of Jersey City, which is just across the Hudson River from New York City.
'I think any reasonable person would come to the conclusion that the amount of air traffic over New York City and New Jersey – particularly Jersey City – is problematic,' the Jersey City mayor, Steve Fulop, told the Gothamist. 'It's just a matter of time before somebody else gets hurt.'
The Eastern Region Helicopter Council, an air tourism industry group, told the AP that New York City's sightseeing tours 'already operate under the most stringent of regulations'.
Related: Pilot of crashed New York helicopter was reportedly low on fuel and headed back to helipad
Thursday's helicopter crash was one of two recent deadly mishaps involving small aircraft in New York. On Saturday, all six people aboard a twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B that crashed near the upstate community of Copake were killed.
The former college soccer star Karenna Groff – who was named the NCAA's woman of the year in 2022 – was identified as one of the victims of that crash. Others included her father, Dr Michael Groff; her mother, Dr Joy Saini; and her boyfriend, James Santoro. Santoro's father, John Santoro, identified him, Groff and her parents to the Associated Press.
Investigators as of Monday had not determined what caused the crash.
NTSB officials have said air traffic controllers at New York's Columbia county airport said the pilot reported a missed initial approach. The air traffic controllers then tried to alert the pilot to a low-altitude warning but could not reach him, officials said.