When a helicopter on a routine flight-seeing tour around the tip of Manhattan plunged into the Hudson River in early April, killing a family of five who were visiting from Spain, it seemed to confirm everyone’s worst fears about the potential dangers of this mode of transportation. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) quickly grounded the tour company, which was followed by a chorus of calls for a total ban on chopper tours in the Big Apple—hardly reassuring for the scores of tourists who zip around the Statue of Liberty and other sights in helicopters every day.
While the cause of the helicopter crash in New York is still unclear, the tragic accident has stirred up the perennial debate over the safety of these operations, which flares up whenever there’s a high-profile crash—such as the one in 2020 that killed basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others in Southern California.
Should you think twice before booking that flight-seeing ride over a scenic waterfall or a helicopter trip to the airport?
Overall, experts say, helicopter transportation has a good safety record, better than that of small private planes. Despite the negative publicity these accidents draw, demand continues to be strong: Civilian choppers are a tourist staple in many destinations around the world.
“It’s safe enough so that when one of these events happens, it’s a major story,” says John Goglia, an aviation consultant and former member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be concerned about whether the crash was preventable, he added.
One recent helicopter accident revealed the hurdles that safety regulators often face. In a crash of a chartered helicopter en route to Las Vegas, which killed all six people aboard, including a prominent Nigerian official and his family, the subsequent investigation revealed that the copter did not have a voice or data recorder, which also was the case in the Bryant crash, making it harder to pinpoint the causes. In both of these cases, the pilots decided to take off in less than ideal weather conditions, and in the absence of hard evidence, there’s been speculation that the crews were under pressure to complete the trip on time.
Efforts to improve helicopter safety
While travelers shouldn’t be afraid to fly in a helicopter, according to Goglia, he hastened to add that more can be done to make this sector of the aviation industry safer.
The NTSB in recent years has called for greater federal oversight of the helicopter tour industry following a spate of flight-seeing accidents, including a chopper that crashed in New York City in March 2018, killing all five tourists aboard. The company that operated that flight was later cited for unsafe conditions, including a faulty passenger-restraint system that prevented fliers from escaping when the craft plunged into the East River.
In 2019, a helicopter crashed into a mountaintop during a flight over the Hawaiian island of Kauai, killing the seven people aboard. In the case of the Hawai‘i crash, the itinerary was designed to showcase the dramatic Nāpali Coast. Tourist flights in places like Hawai‘i are popular because they offer a way to experience sights that would otherwise be inaccessible. But rough terrain and changing weather conditions pose challenges.
Hawai‘i’s congressional delegation, in fact, successfully pushed for language on air tour safety to be added to a massive FAA authorizing bill that was enacted into law in 2024. The measure strengthened FAA oversight of flight-seeing tours and other commercial helicopter operations; it also called for upgrades in safety equipment and data monitoring.
In a statement, Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) noted that Hawai‘i had the highest total deaths from air tour crashes in the nation, with 85 fatalities reported since the NTSB began keeping records.
Other observers say it’s not necessarily new regulations that are needed, but rather better pilot training.
“What we’re seeing today is a lot of pilot issues, and perhaps they’re not monitoring their operations well enough,” Goglia said.
The odds of being in a helicopter crash remain low
Statistics show that, percentage-wise, the odds of being in a crash are very low. The fatal accident rate (the number of accidents that resulted in one or more fatalities) for all helicopters in the United States over the past five years was 0.73 per 100,000 flight hours, according to a recent report from the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team.
In contrast, the fatal accident rate for general aviation (an industry term for noncommercial or smaller private planes) was 1.049 accidents per 100,000 flight hours in 2020, the most recent year for which NTSB data is available.
Safety experts say it’s also important to distinguish between private helicopters, such as those chartered by VIPs to get quickly to their destinations, and ones that operate organized tours.
Not all are convinced
Infrequent travelers can’t be expected to have an in-depth knowledge of helicopter safety standards, a factor in the recent push for stronger oversight of airborne group tours.
Some operators are taking the initiative to reassure fliers. Several helicopter services in the New York City area, such as Blade, which specializes in airport connections and short hops to weekend haunts like the Hamptons, advertise that they meet the highest safety standards, going beyond minimum requirements.
Even so, some local politicians aren’t fans. New York City has debated for years whether to rein in these operations. In 2019, a helicopter crashed onto the roof of a Midtown high-rise in Manhattan; no passengers were aboard, but the pilot died. Then New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called for a full ban on any helicopters flying over city streets. The airport choppers, however, generally take off from helipads on the river, away from the city’s tall buildings.
More recently, though, the Big Apple’s current mayor, Eric Adams, signaled his support for a new variation on traditional choppers: battery-powered air taxis. These eVTOLs, for electric vertical takeoff and landing craft, make less noise and burn less fuel than traditional choppers, and backers argue that they’re safer, too. But as they have yet to enter service, it may be some time before any safety benefits are realized.
Signs of safety
Those who remain nervous about helicopter safety can look for certain indicators when researching a given helicopter operator. Helicopter companies should be very transparent about their safety standards. For instance, Hawai‘i-based Blue Hawaiian Helicopters has a “statement of safety” front and center on its home page touting that the company goes above and beyond even FAA regulations for safety. That’s the kind of statement (with documentation to back it up) that you want to look for.
Also, there are certain questions you should ask the operator, including how long the helicopter you are flying on has been in service; what the safety record is for the aircraft; how much experience the pilot has (pilots should have at least several years of training and flying experience); what accreditations and certifications the company has; and when the last safety audit was.
This story was originally published in January 2020 and was updated on April 21, 2025, to include current information.
