Investigators Examine Passenger Restraints in NYC Helicopter Crash

NEW YORK (AP) — Investigators recovered a flight data recorder and a GoPro camera Tuesday as they tried to determine the cause of a deadly helicopter crash in the East River and figure out whether passengers' harnesses hindered their escape from the sinking aircraft. The helicopter's five passengers drowned when it touched down in the river and capsized, medical examiners said. The pilot escaped. National Transportation Safety Board investigators picked over the damaged helicopter at a police hangar as one victim's family sued chopper owner Liberty Helicopters and others. The lawsuit spotlights the harnesses used in the open-door flight and notes the aircraft's inflatable floats didn't keep it from flipping over and sinking. The way passengers were harnessed, with a release mechanism in the back, there "was just no prospect of safely escaping," said Gary C. Robb, a lawyer for the parents of 26-year-old Trevor Cadigan. "Hanging upside-down in frigid water — stunned by the helicopter crash, tightly harnessed, release inaccessible, with no advanced training — is a death trap," said Robb, based in Kansas City, Missouri. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, but Robb said Cadigan's parents mainly want to end open-door flights for taking aerial photos. Liberty Helicopters hasn't responded to requests for comment and referred all inquiries to federal authorities. The NTSB said the aircraft had been flying about 2,000 feet (609 meters) over New York on a sc...
Source: JEMS Operations - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: News Operations Source Type: news