(UPI)
(
)
Furious political leaders yesterday demanded that the “bizarre and irresponsible’’ secret deal letting tourist helicopters intrude into previously off-limits airspace be canceled before it leads to tragedy.
The Post yesterday exclusively reported that the Federal Aviation Administration and tour operators had furtively signed off on a new rule permitting the choppers into a “corridor’’ over the Hudson that had been restricted to light aircraft, mainly small fixed-wing planes.
“This is an outrage,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Assemblyman Dick Gottfried (D-Manhattan) and state Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan) wrote yesterday to Federal Aviation Administrator J. Randolph Babbit.
“This regulation was put in place after a tragic accident in 2009 when a midair collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter cost nine people their lives,” they wrote. “We fail to understand why you would take this action, and why you would do so without any public notice of hearings.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) said, “The FAA’s decision to allow helicopters to use additional airspace over New York City is unbelievably bizarre and irresponsible.”
He called for a “total ban on tourist helicopters.”
State Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) said, “The Post’s story underscores that our airspace is simply too crowded for nonessential helicopters.
“The volume of helicopter traffic in and out of Manhattan poses too great a risk for passengers, pilots and residents.”
The 2009 crash happened after a helicopter climbed into the path of a light plane.
To keep history from repeating itself, the FAA divided the airspace over the Hudson — a normal sightseeing route — into three sections.
The area below 1,000 feet was reserved for helicopters.
The space between 1,000 and 1,300 feet was designated for small aircraft that could enter or exit the “corridor’’ at only two locations — north of the Verrazano Bridge and north of the George Washington Bridge.
The area above 1,300 feet was reserved for all other air traffic.
A year later, FAA tower supervisors at Newark and La Guardia airports signed a “letter of agreement” with five helicopter-tour companies that drilled two holes into the light planes’ corridor — at the Statue of Liberty and the 79th Street Boat Basin.
That allowed choppers to travel at altitudes above 1,300 feet — where they generate fewer noise complaints.
One pol who’s OK with the deal is Mayor Bloomberg, a plane and helicopter pilot himself.
Even though FAA briefers do not routinely warn pilots of small planes that they may encounter unexpected helicopters, the mayor insisted, “There’s no pilot that comes anywhere near New York that isn’t aware of that.’’
The Eastern Region Helicopter Council said everything was done in the open.