Shut the doors of doom

The Federal Aviation Administration was right Friday to announce a nationwide suspension of open-door helicopter tours. When a chopper from New Jersey lost control and plunged into the East River last week, the five tourist passengers on board never had a chance.

That’s in no small part because they were unable to free themselves from harnesses firmly secured to prevent them from falling out of the fuselage.

In hindsight, it seems crazy that operators and regulators never realized the absurdity of having passengers rely on a knife — that a crash victim is expected to twist themselves in knots to reach in the middle of an emergency — as a safety release mechanism.

New York, thankfully, was ahead of the game. By practice, city helicopter tours, all of which depart from one downtown heliport, do not conduct open-door flights.

The Economic Development Corp., which operates the city’s tourist heliport, should codify that practice, regardless of what the FAA and New Jersey ultimately conclude.