Chopper tours around NYC would be banned under new federal bill: ‘We owe it to the victims'
Helicopter tours around New York City would be banned under a federal bill recently introduced by local Congress members — less than a month after a fatal crash killed a Spanish family and their pilot.
The proposed bipartisan Improving Helicopter Safety Act — introduced May 5 by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) — would bar all 'non-essential' helicopters within a 20-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty.
4 Helicopter tours around New York City would be scrapped for good under a new federal bill introduced earlier this month.
PhotoSpirit – stock.adobe.com
The bill — targeting flights used for recreation, tourism and luxury commuting – was introduced after the tragic crash in the Hudson River that killed a tourist mom, dad and their three young kids, as well as the pilot, April 10. The legislation would take effect 60 days after being signed into law.
'While we have consistently worked to address the impact of non-essential helicopters on our communities, last month's tragic crash should be a clarion call for every level of government to take action on helicopter safety,' Menendez said in a statement.
'Rising congestion of non-essential helicopters, coupled with concerning safety records of air tourism operators, are causing a direct threat to public safety.
'Along with my colleagues from New Jersey and New York, we're doing what is necessary to prevent tragedies like this from happening again,' the rep said.
Choppers that would still be allowed to fly around the city under the bill include those used by police, disaster response, medical and other emergency crews and those employed for research, news and film.
4 How The Post reported Manhattan's latest chopper tragedy.
The Big Apple sightseeing company New York Helicopter Tours shut down days after the deadly crash involving one of its choppers. New York Helicopter Tours CEO Michael Roth confirmed to The Post that his company was ceasing operations at the demand of the Federal Aviation Administration.
The doomed helicopter was on its eighth flight of the day when it broke apart in the air and crashed into the Hudson, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The last inspection date for the chopper was March 1.
After the crash, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) applauded the move by the FAA but noted 'much work remains to be done.'
Schumer said the FAA must conduct more inspections of tourist helicopter companies and consider other questions about the industry going forward.
4 The doomed helicopter was on its eighth flight of the day when it broke apart in the air and crashed into the Hudson, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
AP
The grassroots organization Stop The Chop, which has sought for years to ground the city's roughly 30,000 tourist helicopter flights over environmental impacts and noise, hailed the federal bill.
The proposal is 'common sense federal legislation that will, when passed, finally put an end to the dangerous helicopter conditions in the New York metropolitan area,' the group said in a statement.
Last month, the New York City Council passed a bill banning non-essential helicopter flights from city-owned heliports unless they meet FAA noise standards, although the law won't take effect until December 2029.
4 At least 38 people have died in chopper crashes in the Big Apple since 1977.
ozerkina – stock.adobe.com
Supporters of a tourist-chopper ban argue that the tragic incident last month wasn't an isolated incident, with at least 38 fatalities tied to helicopter crashes in New York City since 1977, according to The Associated Press.
'It was the latest in a long line of preventable tragedies in the New York metropolitan region's increasingly crowded and poorly regulated airspace,' Nadler said. 'For far too long, non-essential helicopter flights have endangered public safety and shattered the peace of our neighborhoods.
We owe it to the victims, and to every resident living beneath these flight paths, to put safety first and prevent future disasters.'
— Additional reporting by David Propper
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