Schumer seeks to halt flights for New York helicopter company

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Sen. Chuck Schumer is calling on federal authorities to revoke the operating permits of the helicopter tour company whose sightseeing chopper broke apart in midair and plunged into the Hudson River Thursday, killing a family of five visiting from Spain and the pilot, a Navy SEAL veteran.

At a press conference Sunday, Schumer said the company, New York Helicopter Tours, should be required to halt all flights as the National Transportation Safety Board investigates the deadly crash.

The Senate Democrat minority leader also called on the Federal Aviation Administration to ramp up safety inspections for other helicopter tour companies, accusing them of “cutting corners and putting profits over people.”

The victims included passengers Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, and their three children, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who received his commercial pilot’s license in 2023.