A key piece of proof within the investigation into final week’s helicopter crash within the Hudson River was recovered Monday, with divers dredging up the plane rotor.
Rotors are crucial for producing carry in helicopters and performing different important capabilities, so an evaluation might yield essential perception into what went mistaken on Thursday’s flight.
It comes a day after phrase got here New York Helicopter Excursions, the operator of the chopper, would shut down operations.
A day in the past, the Federal Aviation Administration introduced that New York Helicopter Excursions, which operated the chopper within the lethal crash, would stop operations instantly.
“Additionally, the FAA will be launching an immediate review of the tour operator’s license and safety record,” the FAA assertion learn, partially.
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) April 14, 2025
Earlier Sunday, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer referred to as on federal authorities to revoke the corporate’s permits, and particularly stated the FAA ought to ramp up security inspections for different helicopter tour corporations, accusing them of “cutting corners and putting profits over people.”
The victims included passengers Agustin Escobar, 49, his spouse, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, and their three kids, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who obtained his business pilot’s license in 2023.
“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 stated. “We know there is one thing for sure about New York City’s helicopter tour companies: they have a deadly track record.”
Within the final 20 years, 5 helicopters on business sightseeing flights have fallen into the Hudson and East rivers on account of mechanical failures, pilot errors or collisions, killing 20 folks.
In response to Schumer’s requires extra oversight, an trade group, Japanese Area Helicopter Council, stated Manhattan’s sightseeing choppers “already function underneath essentially the most stringent of rules.”
“We stand ready to work with leaders on finding ways to ensure the safety and preservation of our businesses and aviation community,” the group stated.
Critics of the trade have lengthy sought to restrict or solely ban nonessential helicopter flights from taking off above town, although they’ve had restricted success. After New York Metropolis capped the variety of flights that might take off from Manhattan heliports at 30,000 yearly in 2016, many corporations moved operations to New Jersey.
Two years later, in 2018, 5 folks died when a helicopter providing “open door” flights crashed within the East River after a passenger’s restraint tether snagged on a gasoline change, stopping the engine.
The reason for Thursday’s crash isn’t but decided. In response to Schumer, rescue divers had been persevering with to seek for the helicopter’s principal rotor and meeting gear field, which might give clues about what occurred.
