A deadly history
Fatal copter firm packs in people amid crisis
A helicopter sightseeing company that lost five passengers in a 2018 East River crash is setting aside social distancing rules as it offers big discounts to lure customers in the coronavirus pandemic.
FlyNYON, a New Jerseybased outfit that offers doors-off chopper tours of New York City, is running online advertisements that show masked passengers sitting inches away from one another on the helicopters.
Tickets for a 30-minute ride on a helicopter without doors typically cost $549 — but the company has cut the cost to $384 during the a COVID-19 crisis.
In the ads, the company says the helicopters are disinfected between each trip. But it’s unclear how FlyNYON would contain the spread of the virus between passengers.
FlyNYON spokeswoman Jillian O’Brien said the company has followed executive orders from N.J. Gov Phil Murphy throughout the pandemic, and is in full compliance with Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
“Nothing is more important to NYON than the safety of its employees and customers,” said O’Brien. “We are continuously assessing and refining our operations to meet and exceed the high safety standards to which we hold ourselves.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer on Thursday sent a letter to FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson, demanding a full investigation into FlyNYON’s practices.
“In advertisements, consumers are shown wearing masks, but packed like sardines in a FlyNYON chopper,” Schumer wrote. “While other New York businesses comply with state law, FlyNYON appears to be using its FAA license to operate and violate New York’s own rules.”
The feds temporarily grounded all doors-off helicopter flights following the East River crash in March 2018, when five FlyNYON passengers were killed. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board found the company exploited a regulatory loophole, which contributed to the deaths.
The high-end tour operator has for years been registered as an aerial photography company — not a sightseeing company.
Aerial photography rules give FlyNYON more leeway in terms operating flights without doors and allows them to fly over Manhattan.
The passengers on the doors-off chopper that crashed in 2018 were strapped in with restraints that could not be removed mid-flight, causing them to sink to their deaths while the pilot swam away safely.
The tragedy didn’t cause FlyNYON to change its ways.
Schumer grilled the company last September over its offer of expensive flights for Instagram “influencers” to bring their dogs on doorsoff flights to photograph.
FAA officials in December wrote a letter to Schumer saying they were working to close the loophole that allows FlyNYON to bend the law about tourist flights.