“Hanging upside-down in frigid water — stunned by the helicopter crash, tightly harnessed, release inaccessible, with no advanced training — is a death trap,” said Robb, based in Kansas City, Missouri. Passengers’ safety harnesses on open-door photo tours are different from pilots’ seat belts, said helicopter pilot Bill Richards, of the aerial photography company New York Film Flyers. Democratic U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer has called on the FAA to suspend Liberty Helicopters flights until the facts of the crash are known. Some Democratic New York city council members are pressing the city to take its own steps to crack down on helicopter tours, though it’s unclear how much the city can do. The helicopter in Sunday’s crash, however, took off from Kearny, New Jersey, according to FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking website.

Source: National Post March 14, 2018 00:14 UTC