New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal has known as for a ban on sightseeing helicopter excursions in New York Metropolis — sensationally saying Thursday’s tragic crash within the Hudson River narrowly averted catastrophe had the chopper crashed right into a densely-populated space.
Together with this week’s harrowing tragedy, a complete of 25 folks have died within the Huge Apple throughout sightseeing helicopter excursions within the final 40 years.
Now, Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) expressed a robust want to restrict site visitors over town to only first responders and press — and stated NYC ought to ditch sightseeing chopper excursions.
“There’s no reason to allow tourists and tour flight operators to use our valuable precious airspace,” he informed ABC 7 New York.
The state legislator added that there’s too little security laws in place for such excursions going down every day.
“The danger is that FAA regulates airspace above 500 feet, so the city and state are prohibited from passing laws that make tourist choppers safer,” he added.
On Thursday, a Spanish family-of-five and an unidentified pilot tragically died after the the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV helicopter they have been on plummeted into the Hudson River.
5 of the six victims have since been recognized as Agustin Escobar, his spouse, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three youngsters — ages 4, 5 and 11.
Harrowing video footage confirmed the fuselage plummeting the other way up and leading to a big splash close to Pier 40 on West Houston Avenue and West Avenue.
Witnesses described listening to a “boom sound” in the intervening time of influence after helicopter’s propellers spun individually uncontrolled into the river.
“We averted disaster possibly by just minutes. And that is the concern here. Which is if a helicopter gets in trouble in a densely populated area like Manhattan, the disaster could be far worse,” Hoylman-Sigal stated after the tragedy.
Hoylman-Sigal final yr signed a laws to maneuver the present West thirtieth road helipad out of Hudson River Park.
The Huge Apple has seen quite a few chopper tragedies happen in recent times.
In 2018, a vacationer helicopter crashed into the East River, prompting all 5 passengers to drown. Solely the pilot survived the tragedy.
The ordeal was a chilling echo of the 2011 catastrophe that befell when a sightseeing chopper crashed into the East River, killing three vacationers.
The ordeal befell simply two years after one other sightseeing helicopter collided with a small aircraft mid-air over the Hudson River. A complete of 9 folks died within the fiery wreck.
