A day after the Federal Aviation Administration banned “doors off” helicopter flights, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday that the agency’s inspector general should probe why the dangerous practice was ever permitted.
The ban was announced in the wake of a fatal East River crash which killed five passengers who were strapped in with heavy duty harnesses on March 11.
“I am demanding to know how they were allowed to take off in the first place,” Schumer said in a statement. “Doors-off flights and this questionable restraint system should have been grounded from day one.”
FDNY officials believe the sightseers largely drowned because they were unable to break free from their harnesses after the helicopter landed and flipped upside down in the cold water.
Pilot Richard Vance — the lone survivor — was not tethered to the chopper with a heavy harness.
After the crash, Schumer called on the FAA to ban all flights operated by Liberty Helicopters until an investigation was complete.
That call went unheeded.
On Sunday, Schumer also demanded a review of the testing and approval process that was conducted before approving the exact safety and restraint system used in the helicopter.
Liberty Helicopters advertised the FlyNYON open door flight to tourists and photographers looking to land better shots of the city’s skyline.
The family of victim Trevor Cadigan, 26, has filed a lawsuit against the helicopter company, arguing it failed to instruct passengers how to escape during an emergency landing.
The others victims are: Daniel Thompson, 34, Tristan Hill, 29, Brian McDaniel, 26, and Carla Vallejos Blanco, 29.
