Latest news with #NewYorkHelicopterTours
New York Post
26-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Chopper tours around NYC would be banned under new federal bill: ‘We owe it to the victims'
Helicopter tours around New York City would be banned under a federal bill recently introduced by local Congress members — less than a month after a fatal crash killed a Spanish family and their pilot. The proposed bipartisan Improving Helicopter Safety Act — introduced May 5 by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) — would bar all 'non-essential' helicopters within a 20-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty. 4 Helicopter tours around New York City would be scrapped for good under a new federal bill introduced earlier this month. PhotoSpirit – The bill — targeting flights used for recreation, tourism and luxury commuting – was introduced after the tragic crash in the Hudson River that killed a tourist mom, dad and their three young kids, as well as the pilot, April 10. The legislation would take effect 60 days after being signed into law. 'While we have consistently worked to address the impact of non-essential helicopters on our communities, last month's tragic crash should be a clarion call for every level of government to take action on helicopter safety,' Menendez said in a statement. 'Rising congestion of non-essential helicopters, coupled with concerning safety records of air tourism operators, are causing a direct threat to public safety. 'Along with my colleagues from New Jersey and New York, we're doing what is necessary to prevent tragedies like this from happening again,' the rep said. Choppers that would still be allowed to fly around the city under the bill include those used by police, disaster response, medical and other emergency crews and those employed for research, news and film. 4 How The Post reported Manhattan's latest chopper tragedy. The Big Apple sightseeing company New York Helicopter Tours shut down days after the deadly crash involving one of its choppers. New York Helicopter Tours CEO Michael Roth confirmed to The Post that his company was ceasing operations at the demand of the Federal Aviation Administration. The doomed helicopter was on its eighth flight of the day when it broke apart in the air and crashed into the Hudson, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The last inspection date for the chopper was March 1. After the crash, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) applauded the move by the FAA but noted 'much work remains to be done.' Schumer said the FAA must conduct more inspections of tourist helicopter companies and consider other questions about the industry going forward. 4 The doomed helicopter was on its eighth flight of the day when it broke apart in the air and crashed into the Hudson, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. AP The grassroots organization Stop The Chop, which has sought for years to ground the city's roughly 30,000 tourist helicopter flights over environmental impacts and noise, hailed the federal bill. The proposal is 'common sense federal legislation that will, when passed, finally put an end to the dangerous helicopter conditions in the New York metropolitan area,' the group said in a statement. Last month, the New York City Council passed a bill banning non-essential helicopter flights from city-owned heliports unless they meet FAA noise standards, although the law won't take effect until December 2029. 4 At least 38 people have died in chopper crashes in the Big Apple since 1977. ozerkina – Supporters of a tourist-chopper ban argue that the tragic incident last month wasn't an isolated incident, with at least 38 fatalities tied to helicopter crashes in New York City since 1977, according to The Associated Press. 'It was the latest in a long line of preventable tragedies in the New York metropolitan region's increasingly crowded and poorly regulated airspace,' Nadler said. 'For far too long, non-essential helicopter flights have endangered public safety and shattered the peace of our neighborhoods. We owe it to the victims, and to every resident living beneath these flight paths, to put safety first and prevent future disasters.' — Additional reporting by David Propper
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Helicopter tours of NYC have a controversial and deadly history
A Spanish family who boarded a sightseeing helicopter in New York City were promised an 'experience you don't want to miss' and "an industry-leading safety record" by New York Helicopter. Instead, the flight ended in tragedy when the aircraft plunged into the Hudson River. Tech executive Agustin Escobar was among the six killed in the April 10 crash, the company confirmed. Escobar's family ‒ including 3 children ‒ died in the crash, as well as the helicopter's pilot. The deaths made worldwide headlines and brought renewed attention to the controversial helicopter tourism industry in New York. The industry sends some 30,000 flights over the Big Apple every year. But residents have decried the helicopters as a nuisance and occasionally some flights have also faced a deadly end. New York Helicopter Tours CEO Michael Roth said he was 'devastated' by the crash. 'I haven't seen anything like that in my 30 years being in business, in the helicopter business,' Roth said to the New York Post about a video showing the helicopter careening into the water. 'The only thing I could guess – I got no clue – is that it either had a bird strike or the main rotor blades failed. I have no clue. I don't know.' More: Helicopter crash into NYC's Hudson River kills 6 on sightseeing tour At least 32 people died in New York City helicopter crashes between 1977 and 2019, according to an Associated Press report. The latest crash brings the total to 38. In March, tour company FlyNYON paid a share of a settlement in a lawsuit for $90 million, reports say. The suit was brought by the relatives of a man who died when a helicopter crashed and sank into the East River in 2018. The helicopter was owned and operated by Liberty Helicopters, which was also found liable in the lawsuit. The tragedy led to an FAA ban on open-door flights. The five passengers on board drowned after the helicopter rolled over into the water as they were trapped by safety harnesses they were wearing at the time. Pilot Richard Vance was the only survivor. The crash was the third in 11 years for Liberty Helicopters, leading Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer to call upon federal authorities to suspend the company's license. Liberty Helicopters is still operating, according to a company website. Another Liberty Helicopters chopper went down in 2009 after crashing with a private plane. All nine people on both aircraft — a pilot and five passengers in the helicopter and a pilot and two passengers in the plane — died in the midair crash. In 2019, a chopper slammed into the roof of a Manhattan building and burst into flames. Timothy McCormack, the pilot of the eight-seat, twin-engine helicopter, died. He was the only person on board the aircraft. More: With 6 dead in New York, a look at notable fatal helicopter crashes in recent US history Most of the nonessential helicopter flights that take off every year in New York City don't end in tragedy. (Sightseeing flights are considered nonessential.) But even a successful flight can be controversial. Because such flights must fly at a low altitude to avoid airplanes, they add to the din of an already loud city for many New Yorkers. Residents opposed to the aircraft have scored some victories. Sightseeing helicopter flights are only allowed to leave from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport and only Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; although commuter and other flights are allowed to leave from the island's two other heliports as well. Sightseeing flights must follow a prescribed route, generally around the bottom of Manhattan, around Liberty Island (home to the Statue of Liberty) and along the Hudson River. Designated routes were created in 2009 following the deadly mid-air collision of the Liberty Helicopters chopper with a private plane that left nine dead. Tours leaving from Manhattan are not allowed to fly over land, though flights originating from the other New York City airports do not have such restrictions, the New York City Council website said. Efforts to ban or limit tourist flights have been ongoing for at least 15 years. Stop the Chop, a group organized to reduce helicopter noise, has been agitating for several years to ban nonessential helicopters from flying over the New York metropolitan area. In 2010 city officials banned short, four to eight minute tours around Manhattan. Today most flights are between 12 and 30 minutes. Flights on Sundays were also banned in 2016 at Stop The Chop's urging. Congressional Representatives, including several from the city, introduced the Safe and Quiet Skies Act in 2023. The law would have directed the FAA to strictly regulate sightseeing flights by requiring them to fly at a higher altitude and be no louder than 55 decibels over occupied areas. It did not pass then but politicians who introduced the bill are raising the issue again in light of Thursday's crash. 'This heartbreaking incident was not only devastating — it was foreseeable,' said Representative Jerry Nadler. 'For years, I have raised concerns about the dangers posed by non-essential helicopter flights over our city's densely populated neighborhoods and congested airspace. One of the busiest skies in the nation remains largely unregulated, governed by outdated visual flight rules and minimal oversight.' (This story has been updated to add new information.) Contributing: Jeanine Santucci This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NYC helicopter crash follows years of controversy for tourist flights
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Helicopter 'suddenly' broke apart before plunging into Hudson River, NTSB says
A sightseeing helicopter that crashed in New York City's Hudson River in April, killing all six people on board, "suddenly" broke apart before plummeting into the water, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report. The single-engine Bell 206 helicopter, operated by New York Helicopter Tours, departed on April 10 at about 2:58 p.m. from a downtown Manhattan helicopter pad and later flew north over the Hudson River before crashing about 17 minutes later, according to the NTSB report released on May 7. A family of five from Spain, along with a pilot, were all killed in the incident, authorities said. Surveillance footage and audio captured the helicopter traveling south before it "suddenly separated into three major sections," the NTSB said in the report. The sections were recovered in the wreckage and identified: the fuselage with the engine; the main rotor system with both rotor blades; transmission and roof-beam structure; and the tail boom with the tail rotor. "Several witnesses described hearing several loud 'bangs' emanating from the helicopter before it broke up and descended into the river," according to the report. Debris from the helicopter was discovered submerged in several areas in the river and on the surface of the river, the NTSB said in the report. Debris was also recovered from a rooftop near the Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub in New Jersey. The crash drew worldwide headlines and renewed scrutiny over the controversial helicopter tourism industry in New York. The incident remains under investigation by the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration. The NTSB's preliminary report did not conclude what may have caused the crash. It typically takes about a year or more before the NTSB determines a probable cause and a final report is released. High above the city, low on oversight: Are helicopter tours putting lives at risk? The family from Spain, which included an executive at tech company Siemens, his wife, and three children, was on an aerial sightseeing tour with New York Helicopter Tours, authorities said. During the flight, the helicopter "flew a teardrop pattern" south of the Statue of Liberty and traveled north along the east side of the Hudson River, according to the report. The aircraft then flew past the George Washington Bridge before it made a U-turn and went south along the New Jersey side of the river. As the helicopter approached the Holland Tunnel's ventilation towers near Jersey City, New Jersey, it was flying at an altitude between 625 to 650 feet, the NTSB said in the report. The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects Lower Manhattan in New York City to Jersey City. The helicopter's altitude then increased 675 feet before it rapidly descended and hit the water, according to the report. Crews and investigators spent days recovering the wreckage. The NTSB said in the report that the helicopter was not equipped with video or data recording devices. "Photos of the pilot taken just before the helicopter departed indicated that he was wearing computer-augmented sunglasses, which had video and audio recording capability," according to the report. "The sunglasses were not recovered." The helicopter airframe had accrued 12,975 total hours of operation, and the engine had accrued a total of 23,305 hours of operation, the NTSB said in the report. The helicopter's most recent inspection was conducted in late February, and it had operated about 50 hours since then. The pilot worked a 10-day on, 10-day off schedule, and the crash occurred during his first day back at work, according to the report. The flight was his eighth tour excursion of the day on the same helicopter. Flying feels riskier. Here's what the experts say about that high number of accidents. The incident renewed safety concerns over the commercial helicopter industry, and aviation experts have long called for stricter regulations to improve the safety of these flights. Helicopter tours in New York have been controversial, and some flights have turned deadly, USA TODAY reported. The United States operates the world's largest fleet of commercial helicopters and is home to the biggest market for helicopter tourism in destinations like New York City, Hawaii, and the Grand Canyon. According to the FAA, helicopters have a fatal accident rate of 0.63 per 100,000 flight hours for helicopters, which is lower than the general aviation average but higher than commercial airline rates. Following the crash, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged the FAA to revoke New York Helicopter Tours' operating certificate immediately. Schumer also called on the FAA to increase regulations for helicopter tours, including expanding ramp inspections — surprise safety inspections — at helicopter tour companies across New York City. On April 14, the FAA issued an emergency order grounding the helicopter tour company. The order came a day after the agency had announced that the company was shutting down its operations. Contributing: Kathleen Wong and Zach Wichter, USA TODAY; Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fatal NYC helicopter crash: Aircraft broke apart before plummeting
International Business Times
08-05-2025
- General
- International Business Times
NTSB Report Reveals Helicopter that Crashed into Hudson River Killing Six Made 'Loud Bangs' Before Breaking into Pieces
The tourist helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River last month, killing a family of five and the pilot, was making "loud bangs" before it broke into three parts, according to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday. The NTSB report revealed that witnesses heard explosive sounds coming from the New York Helicopter Tours aircraft while it was flying above the Hudson River just a few moments before the fatal crash on April 10. Right after the explosive sounds were heard, security footage captured the moment the helicopter lost control before breaking into three main components: the fuselage, the main rotor, and the tail boom. Big Bang and an Explosion The Bell 206 helicopter crashed into the Hudson River only 17 minutes after taking off. The NTSB has not yet determined the exact cause of the deadly crash and said that the investigation is still ongoing. Agustín Escobar, a Siemens executive from Spain, along with his wife Merce Camprubi Montal and their three children—ages four, eight, and ten—were killed when the sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River. The family was visiting New York on vacation to celebrate one of their daughters' birthdays. Dramatic footage showed a rotor blade falling into the water. Aviation specialists believe the helicopter likely crashed after the main rotor blades detached from it and struck the tail section. The NTSB's preliminary report also revealed that the pilot, Sean Johnson, had recently returned from a 10-day vacation. Johnson followed a 10-days-on, 10-days-off work schedule, a standard procedure followed by pilots. He had over 790 hours of flying experience, and the fatal flight was his eighth of the day. The previous seven flights in the same helicopter had all gone smoothly. During the flight, Johnson was wearing smart sunglasses equipped with video and audio recording features, but the device was never found at the crash scene. A Lot Still Remains Unanswered Pieces of the helicopter were found as far away as Hoboken, New Jersey, including on a rooftop near a transit facility, according to the report. Michael Roth, 71, the owner of New York Helicopter—the company that operated the tour—claimed the helicopter was running low on fuel before it went down. "He [the pilot] called in that he was landing and that he needed fuel, and it should have taken him about three minutes to arrive, but 20 minutes later, he didn't arrive," Roth told The Telegraph. Roth said that he was devastated by the crash and concurred with other aviation experts who believe the footage indicates that the main rotor blades had broken off from the helicopter. "The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren't on the helicopter," he told the New York Post. "And I haven't seen anything like that in my 30 years being in business, in the helicopter business. The only thing I could guess – I got no clue – is that it either had a bird strike or the main rotor blades failed. I have no clue. I don't know." At the time of the crash, it was cloudy, and winds were ranging from 10 to 15 mph, with gusts reaching up to 25 mph. Although the skies were overcast due to an approaching weather system bringing light rain later in the day, visibility at ground level was clear at around 10 miles. The water temperature was around 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Al Arabiya
08-05-2025
- Al Arabiya
Doomed NYC helicopter broke into three sections before crash: Reports
A tourist helicopter that crashed into New York City's Hudson River last month, killing all six people on board, broke into three major pieces before descending rapidly, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Wednesday. The Bell 206 chopper, operated by New York Helicopter Tours, departed on April 10 at 2:58 p.m. ET from a downtown Manhattan helicopter pad and flew north over the Hudson River before crashing about 17 minutes later, the NTSB said in a report. Several witnesses described hearing several loud 'bangs' coming from the helicopter before it broke up and descended, the NTSB said. The agency said the helicopter suddenly separated into three major sections: the fuselage including the engine, the main rotor system, and the tail boom. Debris was recovered from several places in the river and from a rooftop near the Hoboken, New Jersey, transit building, the NTSB said. The helicopter airframe had accrued 12,975 total hours of operation, and the engine had accrued a total of 23,305 hours of operation, the NTSB said. The helicopter's most recent inspection was conducted in late February, and it had operated about 50 hours since then, the NTSB added. A family from Spain was among those killed in the crash. The airspace around Manhattan is crowded with helicopters offering tourists a bird's-eye view of the sights, with at least two dozen operators listed on tour website Viator. In 2018, five passengers aboard a helicopter died in New York when the aircraft crashed into the East River, while the pilot survived. The helicopter was on a charter flight that featured an open door to allow passengers to take photographs of the skyline.
