The National Transportation Safety Board team surveyed the wreckage recovered from the Bell 206 L-4 helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River on April 10 near Jersey City. Photo via NTSB on Flickr
The New York City helicopter company involved in the deadly crash on the Hudson River last week is shutting down immediately. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Sunday announced that New York Helicopter Tours will cease operations after a helicopter operated by the company rapidly descended into the river on Thursday, killing all six people on board.
In a statement on X, the agency said it would be “launching an immediate review of the tour operator’s license and safety record.” The FAA said it will continue to support the investigation led by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
“Safety is the FAA’s number one priority, and we will not hesitate to act to protect the flying public.”
On April 10, a Bell 206 L-4 helicopter took off from the Wall Street heliport at 2:59 p.m. According to officials, the helicopter appeared to lose control after turning at the George Washington Bridge, broke apart in midair, and plunged into the Hudson River at roughly 3:15 p.m.
All passengers aboard the sightseeing helicopter died, including a couple from Spain, Agustín Escobar and Mercè Camprubí Montal, and their three children, ages 4, 8, and 11. The pilot, U.S. Navy veteran Seankese Johnson, was also killed.
According to the NTSB, divers from the New York Police Department on Sunday continued to search for wreckage, including the “main rotor, the main gear box, tail rotor, and a large portion of the tail boom.”
The helicopter was not equipped with any flight recorders, which could have provided additional insight into the causes of the crash. NTSB said the helicopter’s last inspection was on March 1; the accident occurred during its eighth flight of the day.
Last week’s crash has renewed calls for more oversight of nonessential helicopter flights taking off in New York City. According to AP, helicopter crashes in the city have killed at least 32 people between 1977 and 2019. In a 2018 crash, five people in a “doors-off” tour of the city drowned after they were unable to free themselves from safety harnesses.
According to CNN, New York Helicopter Tours was involved in two previous safety incidents that were investigated by the FAA.
A preliminary report is expected within a month of the accident. A probable cause of the crash will come in a final report, which could take 12 to 24 months to complete.
Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday called on the FAA to pull the company’s operating certificate and stop their flights until the investigation is complete, which the agency did that day. Schumer also said that inspections of other helicopter tour companies need to ramp up.
“One of the things we can do to honor those lives and try to save others is to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Schumer said. “We know there is one thing for sure about New York City’s helicopter tour companies: they have a deadly track record.”
State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who represents the west side of Manhattan, has long called for restrictions on non-essential helicopter flights and has passed legislation moving the West 30th Street helipad from Hudson River Park. He called the crash “a foreseeable tragedy.”
“Today’s crash is a grim reminder of our worst fears about the dangers of tourist helicopter flights,” Hoylman-Sigal said on Thursday following the accident.
“Tourist choppers are free to operate without sufficient regulation to protect their passengers and New Yorkers on the ground. I will continue to champion a complete ban on non-essential helicopter flights over Manhattan and those originating from City-owned helipads to prevent crashes like this from ever occurring again.”
Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday memorialized the victims of the crash with a wreath laying.
“On behalf of 8.5 million New Yorkers, I want to say to the family members and to the wider Spanish community that we are here with you, and this symbolic gesture is our way of knowing and acknowledging that our words cannot bring back their family members, but it is our way of saying as New Yorkers, we stand united with this family during this moment of grief, and their grief is our grief,” Adams said. “Their sorrow is our sorrow.”
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