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FAA grounds ‘doors off’ chopper flights after NYC crash
The Federal Aviation Administration has temporarily banned some helicopter sightseeing flights following a Liberty Helicopters crash this month which plunged into NYC’s East River, killing five.
The FAA has grounded certain ‘doors-off’ helicopter flights which are popular with photo tours.
Those which also have tight fitting safety harnesses that cannot be easily released by passengers are grounded.
Both issues partly contributed in the deaths of the five passengers.
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the five drowned still strapped in their harnesses and divers had to cut them free.
The parents of one victim called the harnesses a ‘death trap.’
The FAA pledged to ‘conduct a top-to-bottom review of its rules governing these flights to examine any potential misapplication that could create safety gaps for passengers.’
‘Doors off’ flights are popular as it allows photographers to dangle over the edge of the chopper to take aerial photos, but that means harnesses have to be extremely tight.
Operators flying these choppers typically provide passengers with knives to cut themselves out of the harness in emergencies.
Last week the first lawsuit was filed which claimed the company did not provide enough knives.
Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand jointly wrote a letter to the Department of Transportation’s inspector general expressing amazement at how the FAA could have approved ‘doors off’ helicopter flights in the first place.
‘Clearly something went remarkably wrong’ with the approval process, they wrote.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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