Latest news with #SeankeseJohnson
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Helicopter company shuts operations after deadly New York crash, FAA says
New York Helicopter Tours, the company involved in the deadly helicopter crash in New York, is shutting down its operations immediately, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. "Additionally, the FAA will be launching an immediate review of the tour operator's license and safety record," the FAA said in a statement on April 13. Divers from the New York Police Department continued recovery operations on April 13, searching for parts of the helicopter, including the main rotor, gearbox, tail rotor, and a large portion of the tail boom. Meanwhile, National Transportation Safety Board investigators have begun evaluating the helicopter's flight control system at a "secure location," according to the safety agency. Parts that have already been recovered, such as the cockpit, cabin, horizontal stabilizer finlets, the vertical fin, and a portion of the tail boom, were sent to NTSB laboratories in Washington for inspection. In an update on April 12, the NTSB said no video or camera recorders had been recovered from the Bell 206 helicopter. The agency added that none of the electronic systems and equipment on the aircraft had recorded information that would help the investigation. The aircraft, whose passengers included an executive at tech company Siemens, his wife, and three children, crashed into the Hudson River near Jersey City, New Jersey, on April 10. Video of the incident showed the helicopter plunging into the water, followed moments later by a detached rotor. Divers recovered the victims as well as the pilot from the submerged helicopter. Four people were declared dead at the scene, while two others died later after they were transported to nearby hospitals. Officials have not determined the cause of the crash, but aviation experts previously told USA TODAY that video of the crash appears to indicate a catastrophic failure of the helicopter's rotor. The incident is under investigation by the FAA and NTSB. The helicopter took off at around 3 p.m. on April 10 from a heliport in downtown Manhattan for an aerial tour of the city, authorities said. The aircraft flew north along the Hudson River and later turned south after reaching the George Washington Bridge, according to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. The helicopter then crashed at about 3:15 p.m., hitting the water upside down near Jersey City, authorities said. The victims were later identified as pilot Seankese Johnson, 36, and a family of five visiting from Spain, including Agustin Escobar, his wife, and their three children, ages 4, 8, and 10. Escobar, a senior executive at Siemens, was in New York City on business but extended the trip so he and his family could celebrate his daughter's 9th birthday on April 11, according to Steven Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City. The helicopter was operated by New York Helicopter Charter Inc. and owned by Meridian Helicopters LLC, based in Louisiana. According to the NTSB, the helicopter's last major inspection was on March 1, and it had completed seven tour flights before the crash. The NTSB said on April 12 that its investigators met with representatives from the helicopter operator to review operational records, policies and procedures, safety management systems, and the pilot's experience. NTSB investigators also examined two similar helicopters as part of the probe. 'No words can fill the void': What we know about the New York City helicopter crash investigation The crash renewed safety concerns about the aerial tourism industry. Helicopter tours in New York have been controversial, and some flights have turned deadly, USA TODAY reported. Earlier, on April 13, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged the FAA to revoke the company's 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. "There is one thing for sure about New York City's helicopter tour companies, they have a deadly track record," Schumer said at a news conference. "It is usually the companies, not the pilots, that are openly manipulating FAA rules, cutting corners and could well be putting profits over people." Records obtained by USA TODAY showed that New York Helicopter Charter Inc. was previously involved in two safety incidents in 2013 and 2015. Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Christopher Cann, and Michael Loria, USA TODAY; Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Helicopter in deadly New York crash had no flight recorders: NTSB
New York Times
07-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Helicopter Broke Apart Before Crashing Into Hudson River, Report Says
The fatal crash, one of several in the last 15 years in and around New York City, has led to calls for more restrictions on sightseeing flights or outright bans on them. But the airspace is controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has been reluctant to limit access. The passengers were Agustín Escobar; his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal; and their three children, Agustín, 10; Mercè, 8; and Víctor, 4. The pilot, Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who had recently started flying excursions for New York Helicopter Tours, also died. The helicopter had taken off from a port in Lower Manhattan, looped around the Statue of Liberty and headed up the river. It made a U-turn near the George Washington Bridge and was flying back on the New Jersey side of the river when it crashed. The pilot was on the eighth flight of his first day of work after 10 regularly scheduled days off, the report said. He had a commercial pilot certificate and had logged more than 790 hours of flight time, including about 50 hours at the controls of a Bell 206L-4, it said. The report said that the helicopter 'suddenly separated into three major sections' — the fuselage that held the passengers and pilot, the main rotor system and the tail boom. The rotor system and tail boom were recovered in about 30 feet of water, north of where the fuselage was found, the report said.
Associated Press
07-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
New report shows NYC helicopter breaking apart in midair before crash that killed 6
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal officials released new images Wednesday showing a helicopter that crashed in New York last month breaking apart in midair. The series of stills taken from surveillance camera video were included in the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report into the doomed sightseeing flight, on which six people died April 10. The images show the moments the helicopter broke into three parts — the fuselage, the main rotor system and the tail boom. 'Several witnesses described hearing several loud 'bangs' emanating from the helicopter before it broke up and descended into the river,' the report says. At the time of the crash, the Bell 206L-4 had operated about 50 hours since its last inspection Feb. 27, according to the report. The helicopter's airframe accrued nearly 13,000 total hours of operation, and the engine accrued more than 23,000 hours. Federal Aviation Administration records show the aircraft was built in 2004 and had a maintenance issue last September involving its transmission assembly. The NTSB said previously that the aircraft, which was operated by tour company New York Helicopter, was not equipped with any video or data recording devices. But on Wednesday it said photos taken beforehand show that the pilot, Seankese Johnson, was wearing computer-augmented sunglasses, which would have had video and audio recording capability. The glasses have not been recovered, however. Johnson, a 36-year-old former Navy SEAL, received his commercial pilot's license in 2023. He logged 790 hours of flight time, fewer than 50 of which were in the make and model of the helicopter involved in the accident, the NTSB said. 'The pilot worked a 10 days on/10 days off schedule and the accident flight was his first day back after having 10 days off,' according to the report. 'The accident flight was the eighth tour flight of the day for the accident helicopter, and all of those flights were operated by the pilot.' The aircraft was on a typical tour, departing from the downtown heliport by Wall Street around 3 p.m. and flying north along the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, witnesses saw the tail and main rotor breaking away and smoke pouring from the spinning helicopter. In recent years New York Helicopter, the tour company, went through bankruptcy and faced ongoing lawsuits over alleged debts. The company has said it is cooperating with authorities in the investigation. No one answered the phone at its office or responded to an email seeking comment Wednesday. The crash was among a recent string of aircraft crashes and close calls that left some people worried about the safety of flying in the U.S. It also revived concerns about the popular and costly aerial tours over New York City. Longtime opponents revived calls to ban or limit 'nonessential' helicopter flights, including the roughly 30,000 sightseeing rides over the city each year. But Mayor Eric Adams does not support further restrictions. Five commercial sightseeing helicopters have gone down in the rivers around Manhattan since 2005 as a result of mechanical failure, pilot error or collision, killing 20 people . The other victims of the April 10 crash were Agustín Escobar, a 49-year-old global CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility; his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a 39-year-old who worked for Siemens Energy, a separate company; and their children Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. The family was from Barcelona, Spain , and Montal was the granddaughter of a former president of the famous Barcelona FC soccer club. Officials have said Escobar was in the New York area on business, and his family flew in to meet him. Mercedes would have turned 9 the day after the crash.
Miami Herald
15-04-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
FAA issues emergency order grounding NYC tour company after fatal helicopter crash
April 15 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration has issued an emergency order grounding the New York City tour company whose helicopter crashed in the Hudson River last week, killing all six on board. The FAA issued its order Monday as the National Transportation Safety Board announced that divers have recovered the aircraft's main rotor system, which authorities say will shed light on how the Bell 206 helicopter crashed Thursday afternoon into the Hudson. Video of the crash widely circulated online shows debris being ejected into the air as the rotorless helicopter body crashes upside down into the water. The victims have been identified as pilot Seankese Johnson and passengers Agustin Escobar, a senior executive with Siemens, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three young children. The FAA emergency grounding order comes a day after it announced that the helicopter operator, New York City Helicopter Tours, had shut down operations on Sunday. FAA Acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau said the agency implemented the order "in part because after the company's director of operations voluntarily shut down flights, he was fired." A comprehensive review of New York City Helicopter Tours' operations, known as a Certificate Holder Evaluation Program, has begun to determine whether it complied with all applicable regulations and effectively managed safety, identified hazards and mitigated risks, Rocheleau said. Meanwhile, the NTSB has been working to retrieve the helicopter wreckage for the river, and said in a statement that divers with the New York Police Department, who were working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Jersey City, were able to recover and secure the helicopter's main rotor system, including the transmission and roof beam, as well as the tail rotor system. "The evidence will be taken to a secure location for further examination," the NTSB said in a statement. It is also calling on members of the public who may have video or photos of any aspect of the incident to send them to witness@ Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
FAA issues emergency order grounding NYC tour company after fatal helicopter crash
April 15 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration has issued an emergency order grounding the New York City tour company whose helicopter crashed in the Hudson River last week, killing all six on board. The FAA issued its order Monday as the National Transportation Safety Board announced that divers have recovered the aircraft's main rotor system, which authorities say will shed light on how the Bell 206 helicopter crashed Thursday afternoon into the Hudson. Video of the crash widely circulated online shows debris being ejected into the air as the rotorless helicopter body crashes upside down into the water. The victims have been identified as pilot Seankese Johnson and passengers Agustin Escobar, a senior executive with Siemens, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three young children. The FAA emergency grounding order comes a day after it announced that the helicopter operator, New York City Helicopter Tours, had shut down operations on Sunday. FAA Acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau said the agency implemented the order "in part because after the company's director of operations voluntarily shut down flights, he was fired." A comprehensive review of New York City Helicopter Tours' operations, known as a Certificate Holder Evaluation Program, has begun to determine whether it complied with all applicable regulations and effectively managed safety, identified hazards and mitigated risks, Rocheleau said. Meanwhile, the NTSB has been working to retrieve the helicopter wreckage for the river, and said in a statement that divers with the New York Police Department, who were working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Jersey City, were able to recover and secure the helicopter's main rotor system, including the transmission and roof beam, as well as the tail rotor system. "The evidence will be taken to a secure location for further examination," the NTSB said in a statement. It is also calling on members of the public who may have video or photos of any aspect of the incident to send them to witness@
