When a helicopter on a routine flight-seeing tour across the tip of Manhattan plunged into the Hudson River in early April, killing a household of 5 who have been visiting from Spain, it appeared to substantiate everybody’s worst fears concerning the potential risks of this mode of transportation. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rapidly grounded the tour firm, which was adopted by a refrain of requires a complete ban on chopper excursions within the Large Apple—hardly reassuring for the scores of vacationers who zip across the Statue of Liberty and different sights in helicopters day-after-day.
Whereas the reason for the helicopter crash in New York continues to be unclear, the tragic accident has stirred up the perennial debate over the security of those operations, which flares up every time there’s a high-profile crash—such because the one in 2020 that killed basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and 7 others in Southern California.
Must you suppose twice earlier than reserving that flight-seeing experience over a scenic waterfall or a helicopter journey to the airport?
General, specialists say, helicopter transportation has a superb security report, higher than that of small personal planes. Regardless of the unfavorable publicity these accidents draw, demand continues to be robust: Civilian choppers are a vacationer staple in lots of locations world wide.
“It’s secure sufficient in order that when considered one of these occasions occurs, it’s a significant story,” says John Goglia, an aviation guide and former member of the Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB).
However that doesn’t imply we shouldn’t be involved about whether or not the crash was preventable, he added.
One latest helicopter accident revealed the hurdles that security regulators typically face. In a crash of a chartered helicopter en path to Las Vegas, which killed all six individuals aboard, together with a distinguished Nigerian official and his household, the next investigation revealed that the copter didn’t have a voice or knowledge recorder, which additionally was the case within the Bryant crash, making it tougher to pinpoint the causes. In each of those instances, the pilots determined to take off in lower than excellent climate circumstances, and within the absence of onerous proof, there’s been hypothesis that the crews have been below stress to finish the journey on time.
Efforts to enhance helicopter security
Whereas vacationers shouldn’t be afraid to fly in a helicopter, in keeping with Goglia, he hastened so as to add that extra could be accomplished to make this sector of the aviation trade safer.
The NTSB lately has referred to as for better federal oversight of the helicopter tour trade following a spate of flight-seeing accidents, together with a chopper that crashed in New York Metropolis in March 2018, killing all 5 vacationers aboard. The corporate that operated that flight was later cited for unsafe circumstances, together with a defective passenger-restraint system that prevented fliers from escaping when the craft plunged into the East River.
In 2019, a helicopter crashed right into a mountaintop throughout a flight over the Hawaiian island of Kauai, killing the seven individuals aboard. Within the case of the Hawai‘i crash, the itinerary was designed to showcase the dramatic Nāpali Coast. Vacationer flights in locations like Hawai‘i are in style as a result of they provide a solution to expertise sights that will in any other case be inaccessible. However tough terrain and altering climate circumstances pose challenges.
Hawai‘i’s congressional delegation, actually, efficiently pushed for language on air tour security to be added to an enormous FAA authorizing invoice that was enacted into regulation in 2024. The measure strengthened FAA oversight of flight-seeing excursions and different business helicopter operations; it additionally referred to as for upgrades in security gear and knowledge monitoring.
In a press release, Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) famous that Hawai‘i had the very best complete deaths from air tour crashes within the nation, with 85 fatalities reported because the NTSB started retaining data.
Different observers say it’s not essentially new rules which are wanted, however quite higher pilot coaching.
“What we’re seeing right this moment is a variety of pilot points, and maybe they’re not monitoring their operations nicely sufficient,” Goglia mentioned.
The percentages of being in a helicopter crash stay low
Statistics present that, percentage-wise, the percentages of being in a crash are very low. The deadly accident charge (the variety of accidents that resulted in a number of fatalities) for all helicopters in the USA over the previous 5 years was 0.73 per 100,000 flight hours, in keeping with a latest report from the U.S. Helicopter Security Staff.
In distinction, the deadly accident charge for basic aviation (an trade time period for noncommercial or smaller personal planes) was 1.049 accidents per 100,000 flight hours in 2020, the newest yr for which NTSB knowledge is on the market.
Security specialists say it’s additionally essential to tell apart between personal helicopters, comparable to these chartered by VIPs to get rapidly to their locations, and ones that function organized excursions.
Not all are satisfied
Rare vacationers can’t be anticipated to have an in-depth data of helicopter security requirements, an element within the latest push for stronger oversight of airborne group excursions.
Some operators are taking the initiative to reassure fliers. A number of helicopter providers within the New York Metropolis space, comparable to Blade, which makes a speciality of airport connections and brief hops to weekend haunts just like the Hamptons, promote that they meet the very best security requirements, going past minimal necessities.
Even so, some native politicians aren’t followers. New York Metropolis has debated for years whether or not to rein in these operations. In 2019, a helicopter crashed onto the roof of a Midtown high-rise in Manhattan; no passengers have been aboard, however the pilot died. Then New York Metropolis Mayor Invoice de Blasio referred to as for a full ban on any helicopters flying over metropolis streets. The airport choppers, nonetheless, usually take off from helipads on the river, away from the town’s tall buildings.
Extra not too long ago, although, the Large Apple’s present mayor, Eric Adams, signaled his help for a brand new variation on conventional choppers: battery-powered air taxis. These eVTOLs, for electrical vertical takeoff and touchdown craft, make much less noise and burn much less gasoline than conventional choppers, and backers argue that they’re safer, too. However as they’ve but to enter service, it might be a while earlier than any security advantages are realized.
Indicators of security
Those that stay nervous about helicopter security can search for sure indicators when researching a given helicopter operator. Helicopter firms ought to be very clear about their security requirements. For example, Hawai‘i-based Blue Hawaiian Helicopters has a “assertion of security” entrance and middle on its dwelling web page touting that the corporate goes above and past even FAA rules for security. That’s the sort of assertion (with documentation to again it up) that you simply wish to search for.
Additionally, there are particular questions you need to ask the operator, together with how lengthy the helicopter you’re flying on has been in service; what the security report is for the plane; how a lot expertise the pilot has (pilots ought to have at the very least a number of years of coaching and flying expertise); what accreditations and certifications the corporate has; and when the final security audit was.
This story was initially revealed in January 2020 and was up to date on April 21, 2025, to incorporate present data.