New York Helicopter Excursions, the operator of the chopper that fell into the Hudson River on Thursday, killing a pilot and household of 5 visiting from Spain, is shutting down operations.
The Federal Aviation Administration made that announcement late Sunday, saying the corporate would stop operations instantly.
“Moreover, the FAA might be launching an instantaneous evaluation of the tour operator’s license and security report,” the FAA assertion learn, partly.
FAA Statement⁰⁰New York Helicopter Excursions — the corporate concerned within the lethal crash on the Hudson earlier this week — is shutting down their operations instantly.⁰ ⁰We will proceed to help @NTSB’s investigation. Moreover, the FAA might be launching an instantaneous…
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) April 14, 2025
The transfer comes hours after New York Sen. Chuck Schumer known 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 “chopping corners and placing earnings over folks.”
The victims included passengers Agustin Escobar, 49, his spouse, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, and their three youngsters, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who obtained his industrial pilot’s license in 2023.
“One of many issues we are able to do to honor these lives and attempt to save others is to verify it doesn’t occur once more,” Schumer stated. “We all know there may be one factor for certain about New York Metropolis’s helicopter tour corporations: they’ve a lethal monitor report.”
Within the final twenty years, 5 helicopters on industrial sightseeing flights have fallen into the Hudson and East rivers because of mechanical failures, pilot errors or collisions, killing 20 folks.
The president of New York Helicopter Excursions, Michael Roth, didn’t reply to telephone and e-mail inquiries. The corporate stated in an announcement printed on its web site that it was cooperating with authorities within the investigation.
In response to Schumer’s requires extra oversight, an business group, Japanese Area Helicopter Council, stated Manhattan’s sightseeing choppers “already function below essentially the most stringent of laws.”
“We stand able to work with leaders on discovering methods to make sure the protection and preservation of our companies and aviation neighborhood,” the group stated.
Critics of the business have lengthy sought to restrict or fully ban nonessential helicopter flights from taking off above the town, although they’ve had restricted success. After New York Metropolis capped the variety of flights that would 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 gas change, stopping the engine.
The reason for Thursday’s crash just isn’t but decided. In accordance with Schumer, rescue divers had been persevering with to seek for the helicopter’s primary rotor and meeting gear field, which might give clues about what occurred.
