New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal has called for a ban on sightseeing helicopter tours in New York City — sensationally saying Thursday’s tragic crash in the Hudson River narrowly avoided disaster had the chopper crashed into a densely-populated area.
Including this week’s harrowing tragedy, a total of 25 people have died in the Big Apple during sightseeing helicopter tours in the last 40 years.
Now, Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) expressed a strong desire to limit traffic over the city to just first responders and press — and said NYC should ditch sightseeing chopper tours.
“There’s no reason to allow tourists and tour flight operators to use our valuable precious airspace,” he told ABC 7 New York.
The state legislator added that there’s too little safety regulations in place for such tours taking place daily.
“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 were on plummeted into the Hudson River.
Five of the six victims have since been identified as Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three kids — ages 4, 5 and 11.
Harrowing video footage showed the fuselage plummeting upside down and resulting in a large splash near Pier 40 on West Houston Street and West Street.
Witnesses described hearing a “boom sound” at the moment of impact after helicopter’s propellers spun separately out of control 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 said after the tragedy.
Hoylman-Sigal last year signed a legislation to move the current West 30th street helipad out of Hudson River Park.
The Big Apple has seen a number of chopper tragedies take place in recent years.
In 2018, a tourist helicopter crashed into the East River, prompting all five passengers to drown. Only the pilot survived the tragedy.
The ordeal was a chilling echo of the 2011 disaster that took place when a sightseeing chopper crashed into the East River, killing three tourists.
The ordeal took place just two years after another sightseeing helicopter collided with a small plane mid-air over the Hudson River. A total of nine people died in the fiery wreck.
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