Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is set to call on the Federal Aviation Administration to revoke the license of the New York City helicopter tour company that was operating the chopper that crashed into the Hudson River, leaving six people dead last week.
The New York Democrat is raising the issue of “Part 91” licenses, which New York Helicopter was using to operate when its chopper with five tourists from Spain “split in half” in midair and crashed on Thursday.
Schumer argues that “Part 91” licenses does not require the same strict training for mechanics and pilots that other commercial licenses do.
AP
The license is also used by other chopper tour companies, including FlyNYON, whose chopper went down in the East River in 2018, killing five people.
According to Schumer, who is set to speak on the crash during a Sunday press conference, the “Part 91” license held by these helicopter tour companies make them riskier to fly in.
Schumer will call on the federal government to increase ramp inspections at all chopper tour companies, including FlyNYon. A press release from the senator notes that a jury recently found the company responsible for the crash that killed all passengers seven years ago.
Schumer will also call on the FAA to revoke FlyNYON’s the operating license, as well, pending a full investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
According to the NTSB, Thursday’s crash occurred during the tour company’s eighth flight of the day.
A top executive of the global technology company Siemens and his family were identified as five of the victims who were killed in Thursday’s crash. The sixth victim was the pilot, 36-year-old Navy veteran Sean Johnson.
Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three children — who authorities identified Friday as Augustin, 10, Mercedes, 8, and Victor, 4 — had just arrived in the Big Apple from Barcelona earlier in the day, according to law enforcement sources.
Chilling footage captured the moment the helicopter spiraled out of the sky before plummeting into the Hudson. Other clips showed the rotors splashing down into various parts of the water.
Flight Tracker data showed the aircraft, carrying five passengers and a pilot, was in the air for roughly 15 minutes before going down.
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the probe into Thursday’s incident, the latest in a series of deadly aircraft emergencies in the past few months.
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