New York senator urges US FAA to ground helicopter company after fatal crash
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The wreckage of a helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River is extracted from the water in Jersey City, New Jersey, on April 10.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to immediately revoke New York Helicopter Charter’s licence and expand safety inspections of other tour operators after a crash last week killed six people.
The New York senator criticised the company’s use of FAA Part 91 certification – a regulatory framework that permits sightseeing flights with fewer training, maintenance and oversight requirements than commercial operators must meet.
“This company was operating under the lowest bar of safety,” Mr Schumer said on April 13 in New York. “Every helicopter tour company in New York City is using this same model – and it’s killing people.”
The April 10 crash killed the pilot, a Navy veteran, and five passengers – including a Siemens executive, his wife and their three children ages 10, eight and four. The aircraft, a Bell 206 L-4, was on its eighth sightseeing flight of the day when it went down in the Hudson River near Jersey City.
Mr Schumer called on the FAA to suspend the company’s operations pending the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation.
He also urged an increase in ramp inspections – surprise checks to ensure compliance with aviation safety standards – for all tour operators in the New York metro area.
“These inspections are like meat or food safety inspections,” he said. “You show up unannounced and see what’s really going on.”
The helicopter lacked both a cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder
New York Helicopter has a troubled safety record. Two incidents involving the company in 2013 and 2015 were tied to maintenance failures. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2019 after restrictions on helicopter traffic were introduced.
Mr Schumer said tour operators should face stricter regulations, including limits on aircraft age, greater pilot experience requirements and stronger financial standards to prevent cost-cutting on safety.
“Passengers deserve one level of safety – whether they’re flying across the country or around the Statue of Liberty,” he said. BLOOMBERG
