Deadly crash raises new questions about safety of New York’s helicopter tours

A helicopter ride giving a thrilling sweep of Manhattan’s iconic skyline has long been on the to-do list for New York City tourists of means.

For several hundred dollars, tour companies fly passengers high above the rivers that encircle the city, showcasing a stunning, bird's-eye view of the Statue of Liberty, One World Trade Center and other monumental landmarks.

But Thursday’s crash that killed a family of five visiting from Spain and the helicopter’s pilot, a Navy SEAL veteran, has renewed concerns about the safety of the popular sightseeing excursions.

Since 2005, five helicopters on commercial sightseeing flights have fallen into the Hudson and East rivers as a result of mechanical failures, pilot errors or collisions, killing 20 people.

Longtime opponents have revived calls to ban or limit “nonessential” helicopter flights, including the roughly 30,000 sightseeing rides over the city each year.

Mayor Eric Adams on Friday said he doesn’t support further restrictions on the aircraft, saying they’re crucial for everything from transporting Wall Street executives to police work, and that tens of thousands of tourist flights happen each year with no problems.

“People want to see the city from the sky,” he said on WINS radio, though he added that "it must be done right.”

The Democrat said the city's airspace is highly regulated, pilots are well-trained and the aircraft are well maintained.

Not everyone has his level of comfort.

“Personally, I don’t go on them,” Al Yurman, a former investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said of helicopter tours. “I feel like the industry doesn’t look after itself the way it should.”

Tourist flights seemed like they might be in jeopardy after a disaster in 2009, when a Liberty Helicopters sightseeing flight carrying Italian visitors collided with a private plane over the Hudson River, killing nine.

After that crash, which involved missed radio communications, a distracted air traffic controller and two pilots who didn't see each other until it was too late, the Federal Aviation Administration created new safety rules for the congested airspace over the city's rivers.

A few years later, New York City cut the number of flights allowed at Manhattan’s downtown heliport in half, capping them at just under 30,000 a year.

Then, in 2018, five people died when a helicopter offering “open door” flights crashed in the East River after a passenger's restraint tether snagged on a fuel switch, stopping the engine. The pilot escaped but the passengers couldn't get out of their safety harnesses and drowned.

That crash prompted more industry scrutiny.

Late last month, the company that arranged that flight, FlyNYON, settled a lawsuit over the crash for $90 million. FlyNYON's chief executive, Patrick Day, said it had made numerous changes to improve safety, including changing its passenger restraint system, switching to a different model of helicopter, adding training for pilots and hiring a safety officer.

“The introspection and self-critical analysis we have undertaken in the last six-and-a-half years have shaped our view of what it means to be an industry leader, and we’re a safer, smarter, and stronger company for it,” Day said.

The cause of Thursday’s crash is still undetermined.

Videos taken by bystanders showed the Bell 206 helicopter breaking apart mid-flight. The cabin plummeted into the water without its severed tail boom or main rotor, which spun off into a different part of the river and hasn't been recovered.

Nationwide, there were 88 helicopter accidents last year across all sectors — the lowest in 25 years, according to Jeff Smith, chairman of the Eastern Region Helicopter Council, a trade group for helicopter operators based in Kearny, New Jersey, where many Manhattan tour companies depart.

Helicopter tours, he added, accounted for a small fraction of all those accidents.

“We shoot for vision zero, which means no fatalities,” Smith said. “We train for that. We preach it. It is a cornerstone of our industry.”

Justin Green, an aviation lawyer and former Marine helicopter pilot, agreed there’s nothing especially problematic about New York’s helicopter tour industry, despite the crashes that seem to happen every few years.

At the same time, he said, tour operators should be required to equip their aircraft with modern safety measures, such as terrain awareness technology.

Steve Cowell, a Colorado-based aviation expert, suggested the FAA should take a more active role in scrutinizing smaller operators with known financial difficulties.

“Unfortunately, when people fly, they oftentimes do not check into the safety records or financial viability of the company,” Cowell said. “They’re placing their trust and confidence in the abilities of not only the pilots but the maintainers.”

New York Helicopter, operator of the aircraft that crashed Thursday, had gone through a bankruptcy and been sued twice by creditors in recent months, an AP review found.

The company declined to answer questions, but released a statement saying it was “profoundly saddened" by the deaths of its passengers and pilot.

“The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew has always been the cornerstone of our operations,” it said.

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