Schumer Calls For Black Boxes In All Helicopters After NYC Crash

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — New York Sen. Charles Schumer is urging federal regulators to require helicopters be outfitted with black boxes, which track flight data, in the wake of a fatal crash in Midtown Manhattan.

The National Transportation Safety Board, an agency tasked with investigating crashes, has recommended the Federal Aviation Administration to require helicopters use black boxes since 2013, but the federal administration has largely ignored the call, Schumer said during his weekly Sunday press conference. The lack of a black box in the helicopter that crashed into the AXA building last week, killing the pilot, is a "serious concern" in the ongoing investigation, Schumer said.

Black boxes — also known as flight data recorder — track metrics such as an aircraft's altitude, speed, power settings and flight path that can help investigators determine why a crash occurred. In some cases, the devices can even help investigators create a video reconstruction of the flight to see exactly what went wrong during a crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration currently requires all commercial airplanes to be equipped with the devices.

"To know that the NTSB has been trying for years, without success, to compel the FAA to take action as it relates to making helicopters more valuable to safety by installing flight data recorders is cause for serious concern," Schumer said in a statement. "So, in the name of safety, the FAA must take another look at the NTSB’s reports on chopper crashes similar to the one in New York City just last week and propel the safety measures that have been collecting dust for far too long."

Schumer isn't the only politician calling for more regulations on helicopter's following the crash in Midtown. Congressmember Carolyn Maloney called for all "nonessential" helicopter flights to be banned from New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio later echoed the sentiment.

A helicopter pilot was killed last week after an attempted crash landing on the roof of the AXA Equitable Building at 787 Seventh Avenue between West 51st and 52nd streets, officials said. NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said Monday that the craft took off from the 34th Street heliport 11 minutes before the crash, it was run by a private operator and was thought to be involved in "executive travel." O'Neill said it's likely that the helicopter was headed to it's home base in Linden, NJ.

The police commissioner added that a temporary flight restriction had been in place because of bad weather and investigators are trying to figure out if the helicopter had permission to be in the air.

Following a March 2018 crash that killed five tourists, city officials moved to ban helicopter tours featuring "doors off" photography from using city heliports. The privately chartered aircraft was in the midst of a photo shoot when the pilot lost control and plunged into the East River.