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Schumer urges FAA to require data recorders in helicopters

Posted June 16, 2019 7:00 am

By MICHAEL BALSAMO

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate's top Democrat is calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to require all helicopters be equipped with data recorders after a deadly chopper crash in New York City.

Sen. Charles Schumer says the FAA failed for years to heed warnings from federal safety investigators and must act now to require the data recorders in helicopters, like they are in commercial planes.

The National Transportation Safety Board has pushed the FAA to implement its safety recommendation. But the agency says the FAA has claimed the benefits of recorders are "difficult to identify."

A helicopter crashed on the roof of a Manhattan skyscraper last week, killing the pilot. It wasn't equipped with a flight data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder.

The FAA called Schumer's request "premature" pending the crash investigation.

This photo released by the New York City Fire Department shows damage caused by a helicopter crash, south of Central Park in New York on Monday, June 10, 2019. The crash that killed the pilot and occurred near Times Square and Trump Tower shook the 750-foot (229-meter) AXA Equitable building sparked a fire and forced office workers to flee on elevators and down stairs, witnesses and officials said. (FDNY via AP) The Associated Press

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