Credit: New York Times
Months before the fatal helicopter crash into the East River that killed five passengers, pilots for the company operating the tours had warned management about unsafe conditions and harnesses that could make escape difficult. According to a story in TheNew York Times, the pilots “repeatedly requested more suitable safety gear” and one pilot warned managers that “we are setting ourselves up for failure.”
The accident occurred on March 11 when the five passengers were flying on a so-called doors-off photo tour of New York city. The Eurocopter AS350 lost power and autorotated into the East River near Gracie Mansion. Although it was equipped with skid floats, the helicopter rolled and inverted after touchdown. The passengers were secured into the aircraft with a harness connected by a screw-type carabiner which they could not themselves release quickly. All five drowned.
Pilots flying for the tour company, FlyNYON, made a series of recommendations, including one days before the accident, requesting new tools that would allow the passengers to free themselves in the event of a crash. According to the Times reporting, executives for the tour company “bristled at the pilots’ concerns” and insisted that the operation was safe. “Let me be clear, this isn’t a safety issue with the harnesses,” Patrick K. Day, the chief executive of FlyNYON, said in a January email to the pilots, according to the Times story.
Shortly after the accident, the FAA prohibited doors-off flights in aircraft not equipped with quick-release harnesses and a week later, the NTSBrecommended that no commercial operations of any kind should be allowed without quick-release restraints.
