New York State Sen. Brad Hoyleman Cigar has called for a ban on tourist helicopter tours in New York City. If choppers crash into a densely populated area, sensually avoiding Thursday's tragic crash on the Hudson River.
A total of 25 people have been killed in the Big Apple during tourist helicopter tours over the past 40 years, including this week's tragedy.
Now, Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) has expressed a strong desire to limit city traffic to first responders and reporting.
“There is no reason to allow tourists and tour flight operators to use their precious precious airspace,” he said. ABC 7 spoke to New York.
State lawmakers added that safety regulations are too few for such tours to take place daily.
“The danger is that the FAA regulates airspace over 500 feet, so cities and states are prohibited from passing laws that make tourist choppers safer,” he added.
On Thursday, five Spanish families and an unidentified pilot tragically died after a Bell 206L-4 Long Ranger IV helicopter that plunged into the Hudson River.
Five of the six victims have been identified as Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merz Campulvi Montal, and three children, ages 4, 5 and 11.
In the disastrous video footage, the torso plummeted upside down, causing a large splash near Pier 40 on West Houston Street and West Street.
Witnesses explained that after the helicopter propellers were spun separately into the river, they would hear the “sound of a boom” at the moment of shock.
“We probably avoided the disaster in a few minutes. That's the concern here. That means that if helicopters get in trouble in densely populated areas like Manhattan, the disaster can be much worse,” Hoyleman Cigal said after the tragedy.
Last year, Hoylman-Sigal signed a law to move the current West 30th Street Helipad out of Hudson River Park.
Many Chopper tragedy has been happening in the Big Apple in recent years.
In 2018, a tourist helicopter crashed into the East River, killing all five passengers. Only the pilot survived the tragedy.
The ordeal was a horrifying echo of the 2011 disaster that occurred when tourists crashed into the East River and killed three tourists.
The ordeal took place just two years after another tourist helicopter collided with a small plane in the air on the Hudson River. A total of nine people were killed in the fiery wreck.
