Metro

Lawmakers call for ban on NYC tourist choppers after Hudson River helicopter crash kills six

By
Hannah Fierick,
Jack Morphet,
Nika Shakhnazarova and
Craig McCarthy
Published April 11, 2025
Updated April 11, 2025, 2:29 p.m. ET

Some Big Apple pols Friday issued dramatic pleas for a ban on local helicopter tours, and the Trump administration conceded the need for a review — while Mayor Eric Adams downplayed concerns.

The lawmakers opposed to the tourist sky traffic warned of a horrific scenario if Thursday’s tragic deadly chopper crash in the Hudson River off Manhattan had gone down anywhere in the densely popular metropolis.

Senator Brad Hoylman speaking at a press conference about legislation to end religious exemption to vaccinations in New York State
New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal has called for a ban on sightseeing helicopter tours in New York City after Thursday’s crash in the Hudson River. William Farrington

But Adams described the worries as pure exaggeration and noted that the aerial transports are a big selling point to New York City for CEOs and tourists.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal  (D-Manhattan) was among those demanding that airspace over the city be limited to just first responders and press, saying the Big Apple should ditch sightseeing chopper tours.

“There’s no reason to allow tourists and tour flight operators to use our valuable precious airspace,” he told .

“The danger is that FAA regulates airspace above 500 feet, so the city and state are prohibited from passing laws that make tourist choppers safer,” he added.

Queens state Assemblyman and mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani echoed those calls in an unrelated press conference.

“There are far too many New Yorkers who have raised these concerns time after time, and I agree with my colleague in the state legislature,” the Democratic Socialists of America lawmaker told reporters.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine went a step farther, pushing for the city to ban all tourist flights until a probe is done.

“I have long been opposed to non-essential helicopter traffic from city-owned assets, and I am eager to learn the results of the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration’s investigation into what caused this tragedy,” Levine wrote in a letter to the Adams administration.

The appeals for change were not shut down by Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

On Thursday, a Spanish family of five and an unidentified pilot died when the chopper they were on plummeted into the Hudson River. New York Helicopter Tours LLC
Emergency personnel working at the scene of a helicopter crash in the Hudson River near lower Manhattan, New York
Witnesses described hearing a “boom sound” at the moment of impact after the helicopter’s rotors spun separately out of control into the river. REUTERS

“I think we have to look at it,” the transportation honcho said at an unrelated press conference in southern New Jersey at an FFA technical center. “It’s just it’s not just New York, it’s the Grand Canyon, it’s Las Vegas. There are a lot of cities around the country that have these helicopter tours.

“I want to make sure that we have a holistic review to make sure it’s done safely,” he said.

On Thursday, a Spanish family of five and their pilot died when their Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV helicopter plummeted into the Hudson River.

But Hizzoner slapped down any proposals limiting “safe” air traffic travel in a flurry of morning media appearances Friday.

“The number of people that die from vehicle crashes are just astonishing. … We don’t ban vehicles on our roads,” Adams said on NY1.

A map of the incident.
Salvage teams recovering a crashed helicopter from the East River in New York
In 2018, a tourist helicopter crashed into the East River, and all five passengers drowned. Only the pilot survived. Erik Thomas/NY Post

“It is part of our economic ecosystem,” he said of the flights. “Many businesses are attracted to the city because of our air traffic for CEOs and executives and tourism.

“We have 65 million tourists that visit the city last year. People want to see our city from the sky.”

Including this week’s harrowing tragedy, a total of 25 people have died in the Big Apple during sightseeing helicopter tours in the last 40 years.

The family who died Thursday have been identified as business big Agustin Escobar, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their three kids — ages 4, 8 and 10. 

The 8-year-old and 40-year-old mom were celebrating their birthdays in the Big Apple at the time, according to officials and law-enforcement sources.

The dead pilot was identified as Navy SEAL veteran Sean Johnson, 36.

Sean Johnson was piloting the helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River. He was killed along with the family of five that were his passengers.
Sean Johnson was piloting the helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River. Facebook / Sean Johnson

Harrowing video footage showed the fuselage plummeting upside down and resulting in a large splash near Pier 40 on West Houston Street and West Street.

Witnesses described hearing a “boom sound” at the moment of impact after the helicopter’s propellers spun separately out of control into the river.

Emergency personnel pushing a stretcher carrying a victim's body away from the site of a commercial helicopter crash in New York's East River in 2011
In 2011, a sightseeing chopper crashed into the East River, killing three tourists. Getty Images
FBI investigators around the remnants of the crashed helicopter over Hudson River, Hoboken, New Jersey, after a fatal mid-air collision in 2009
A total of nine people died in a 2009 crash after a sightseeing helicopter collided with a small plane in midair over the Hudson River. Getty Images

“We averted disaster possibly by just minutes. And that is the concern here. Which is if a helicopter gets in trouble in a densely populated area like Manhattan, the disaster could be far worse,” Hoylman-Sigal said after the tragedy.

Hoylman-Sigal last year signed legislation to move the current West 30th Street helipad out of Hudson River Park.

The Big Apple has seen a number of chopper tragedies in recent years.

In 2018, a tourist helicopter crashed into the East River, and all five passengers drowned. Only the pilot survived.

The ordeal was a chilling echo of the 2011 disaster that took place when a sightseeing chopper crashed into the East River, killing three tourists.

That took place just two years after another sightseeing helicopter collided with a small plane in midair over the Hudson River. A total of nine people died in the fiery wreck.