The company that authorities say operated the helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River on April 10, killing a Spanish family of five and a pilot, has been involved in previous mishaps, as has the chopper’s owner, records show.
In 2013, a Bell 206 helicopter operated by New York Helicopter Charter Inc., made an emergency landing on the Hudson River after experiencing an apparent engine failure during a sightseeing tour, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The pilot engaged the aircraft’s emergency flotation system and landed on the river, near Manhattan’s Upper West Side, according to an NTSB report. No one, including the pilot and four Swedish tourists, was seriously injured.
The incident led New York Helicopter Charter to sue Aircraft Maintenance Specialists, a company hired to make repairs on the helicopter before the emergency landing, according to filings in New York State Supreme Court.
A 2015 crash in New Jersey involves the same owner and operator
More recently, in 2015, a helicopter operated by New York Helicopter Charter experienced a hard landing in Kearny, New Jersey, shortly after taking off. Investigators found that the helicopter was previously involved in a hard landing in Chile in 2010, according to a report from the NTSB.
At issue was the tail rotor driveshaft, which Federal Aviation Administration inspectors discovered had been identified as faulty but was painted over. Corrosion had been removed, and the serial number did not match known records.
New York Helicopter Charter did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment, and multiple attempts to reach the company’s chief executive, Michael Roth, were unsuccessful.
The chopper in the 2015 crash was leased by New York Helicopter Charter from Meridian Helicopters LLC, a Louisiana-based company that also owned the chopper that crashed into the Hudson River on April 10, killing a pilot as well as Agustín Escobar, CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, his three children and his wife.
Meridian Helicopters LLC, which did not respond to requests for comment, has taken down its website and Facebook page. The company’s LinkedIn says it specializes in the refurbishment, brokerage sale and leasing of helicopters.
New York Helicopter Charter executive reacts to fatal crash
Roth told the New York Post he was “devastated” by the April 10 crash and doesn’t know what may have caused it.
“It’s devastation,” he said. “I’m a father and a grandfather and to have children on there, I’m devastated. I’m absolutely devastated.”
He told the outlet that he saw the video of the helicopter falling into the water and said it was unlike “anything” he’s ever seen over his 30 years in the helicopter business.
“The only thing I could guess – I got no clue,” he added,” is that it either had a bird strike or the main rotor blades failed. I have no clue. I don’t know.”
The company suffered financial woes
In January, PHI Aviation, a Louisiana-based company that leases choppers to other firms, sued New York Helicopter Charter in federal court, claiming it had violated the terms of a lease agreement.
PHI alleges in court documents that New York Helicopter Charter failed to make three months’ worth of lease payments on a helicopter, which it repossessed in December. PHI claims it is owed over $1.4 million as a result of “material breaches, termination and repudiation of the Helicopter Lease.”
In 2019, New York Helicopter Charter filed for bankruptcy, according to records filed in district court for the Southern District of New York.
According to court filings, the company began hemorrhaging money in 2017, when New York City made policy changes to reduce air traffic around the city. From the 1990s to 2017, the company brought in an average of $4.6 to $5.8 million in annual revenue. After the policy changes, that number dropped to $3.8 million, leading to a reduction of its workforce from 30 employees to about 13, court records say.
New York Helicopter Charter was established in August 1998, according to the New York Department of State’s division of corporations.
Contributing: Michael Loria, USA TODAY; Daniel Munoz and Colleen Wilson, Bergen Record
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Operator of crashed helicopter had prior mishaps, records show
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