How Safe Are Helicopter Sightseeing Tours?

The mortal clash of a tourist helicopter in New York City on April 10 has left many people wondering how safe such tours are.

Commercial tourism helicopters lead to visitors places that other tours cannot: deeply in the Grand Canyon, to a hidden waterfall in the Mountains of Oahu, well above New York, serving impressive views or adrenaline.

The tours are popular; Tourist helicopters are part of a multi -million dollar industry in the United States. In New York alone, the city’s helipuertos generate a “total economic impact” or $ 78 million a year, according to the Economic Development Corporation.

But tourist helicopters can operate less rigorous security requirements than other commercial airplanes, such as aircraft, charter aircraft and some private planes.

The last accident, which killed the pilot and a family of five visits from Spain, occurs after years of scrutiny on how the Federal Aviation Administration should regulate this type of tourist tours and an attempt from Congress to the rules.

How sure is flying in a helicopter compared to other forms or air trips?

Flying on a commercial plane is, with much, the safer form of air trips, with an average of 0.01 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours from 2019 to 2023, according to data from the National Security of the Federal Federal Security Security Agency.

On the contrary, the average fatal accident rate for all US helicopters.

The helicopters were also less safe than the nearby aircraft already requested, a category that includes private flights (as well as a small number or helicopters), which had an average or 0.20 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours, according to the NTSB.

But the helicopters were safer than the general category of general aviation, which includes non -commercial private property aircraft, as well as recreational helicopters and had a rate of approximately 0.95 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours.

The helicopters are “complex mechanisms” that require very care when it comes to maintenance and operations, said Jeff Guzzetti, former FAA and NTSB accident researcher, also depend more on an adequate pilot action due to complex aerodynamics, complex control systems and the complex environment that the fixed -wing aircraft, “said John Cox, an old air pilot that is directed to an aircraft Complex aerodynamics to a complex security consulting firm.

The pilots who strive to give tourists an adventure, Guzzetti added, could try risky maneuvers. “They fly near the ground and near the things they are traveling, whether buildings or the cliffs of the Grand Canyon,” he said. “All of that is combined to make it a more dangerous effort than setting up a plane from one city to another.”

Where the most helicopter tours have crashed?

Since 2008, there have been 80 accidents of commercial tourist helicopters, with 72 deaths, in the United States, the agreement to the NTSB Hawaii has had the majority, with 20 accidents and 19 deaths, followed by Florida, Nevada, Texas and Alaska. In New York, there have been two accidents and 11 deaths, including the accident of April 10.

Tourist helicopters represented a small fraction of the more than 2,200 accidents of civil aviation helicopters in the United States in that same period.

How are tourist helicopters regulate?

FAA has specific rules for different flight operations, based on factors such as the type of plane and the purpose of the flight. The regulations differ for the maintenance of the aircraft, the pilot grades and the rest time, and the acceptable conditions to fly.

Commercial airlines are authorized to operate under part 121, the most rigorous rules set. Tourist helicopter operations can operate under part 135 less demanding, which applies to non -programmed traveler and charter services, or can fly under part 91, the least restrictive, which covers general aviation.

With the FAA approach, helicopter operators can be certified under part 135, but they still operate flights under the rules of part 91 if the helicopter comes out and lands in the same place and remains within a radius of 25 miles, as many tourist routes do.

The New York Helicopter Charter, the company that operated the plane involved in the New York accident this month, had a certificate from part 135, according to FAA, but the condemned helicopter was operating under the rules of part 91, according to the NTSB

How important are the different rules?

Since 2008, most helicopter accidents have involved flights that operate under part 91, according to NTSB data.

The part 91 flights operate under “much less strict requirements than its 135 charter brothers,” Guzzetti said. Part 91 operations do not have flight time limits or rest requirements for pilots. In comparison, part 135 limits its eight -hour flight time for each 24 -hour period, and requires scheduled rest time. He also has more strict training mandates for pilots.

The pilot’s fatigue may have contributed to a mortal tourism helicopter accident in 2004 on the island of Kauai, according to the NTSB that the flight, which works under part 91, crashed into a mountain, killing the pilot and the four passengers. The NTSB cited the pilot’s inexperience with local climatic conditions and the lack of scheduled breaks, among other factors, in its report.

The existing federal rules do not “adequately address the pilot’s fatigue problems associated with continuous, tits and high frequency operations that are exclusive to commercial air tour helicopter operations,” said the NTSB in the report.

John Goglia, a former member of the NTSB Board and independent security consultant, said that pilots of this type of tours are “on the clock for a long time”, possible making more than one Diden flight per day. “They simply fly them all day,” he added.

Christopher Young, Executive Director of TOPS, an independent helicopter tours organization, said in a statement that the group advocated higher standards in the aerial tour and tourism industry and encouraged all helicopter operators to adopt processes.

Four tourist operators of commercial helicopters did not return the emails and telephone calls request comments.

What does Bone Doe have for these flights to be safer?

The remarkable accident of the years has led FAA to harden the rules to make tourist helicopters.

After two accidents in Hawaii on the same day in July 1994, the NTSB requested “improvements in the supervision of FAA and the new regulations” for the industry, including the placement of all commercial flights by helicopter under part 135. After the 2004 accident in Kauai, the NTSB cited again the “FAA lack of the FAA for the supervision of part 91 Air operators” FAA to FAA to FAA’s requirements to require more FAA training. pilots FAA did not follow these recommendations.

In 2018, a tourist helicopter that made a Disess tour crashed into the East River in New York. Five passengers drowned when they could not escape their security harnesses. Several months after the accident, FAA prohibited doors for doors unless passenger restricts can quickly free themselves during an emergency.

FAA has also promulgated specific location rules. In the Grand Canyon, the agency limits the amount of tours and where they can fly. In Hawaii, where poor visibility has been a factor in previous accidents, tour operators must fly at least 1,500 feet on the surface. Flying below that level requires the approval of the FAA.

Mr. Guzzetti, the security expert, said he thought there was sufficient supervision of the operations of part 135, but that the supervision of part 91 was “missing.”

The legislation called Law of Safe and Quiet Skies, presented in Congress in 2023, would have requested that all helicopter tours fly under the rules of part 135. He did not receive a vote.

Recent FAA formed a rules manufacturing committee to improve the safety of commercial air tours, including helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, with plans to present their recommendations at the end of September. This committee was a requirement of the FAA re -authorization law last year, which also orders the Committee to consider pilot training and maintenance standards, in addition to flight data monitoring.

How to know if a helicopter tour is safe?

Before booking, Mr. Guzzetti recommends asking the tourism company how many planes, what regulations (part 91 or 135) its tourist flight would be operating and how it trains its pilots. You can also search for the company’s accident history in the NTSB database. Finally, verify if the operator is affiliated with a security organization such as Tops, whose members must adhere to the rules that exceed the requirements of the FAA, as well as approve an annual independent audit.

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