Aug 10, 2009 11:52 pm US/Eastern
Angry Officials Liken NYC Crash Area To Wild West
Lawmakers Demand New Regulations For Unrestricted Area Known As 'Hudson Corridor'; Below 1,100 Feet Anything Goes
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Rescue boats search the area where a small airplane and helicopter collided over the Hudson River August 8, 2009, near Hoboken, New Jersey.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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New York mayor Mike Bloomberg (3rd left) gives a press conference near the Hudson river in lower Manhattan surrounded by emergency personnel August 8, 2009, in New York City.
Chris Hondros/Getty Images
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People watch as rescue boats search the area where a small airplane and helicopter collided over the Hudson River August 8, 2009, in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Saturday's collision over the Hudson River between a helicopter and a small plane was tragic, but at this stage, nothing indicates either pilot did anything illegal.
Helicopters and small aircraft share the crowded airspace known as the "Hudson corridor," where their movements below 1,100 feet are completely unrestricted by air traffic control.
A chorus of powerful voices are now rising to challenge that.
"Saturday's tragedy underscores the urgent nature of this issue. The Hudson River flight corridor must not continue to be the Wild West," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). "It is unconscionable that the FAA permits unregulated flights in a crowded airspace in a major metropolitan area. And it is ridiculous that private planes and helicopters flying through a crowded area are dependent, while in flight, on visually sighting other aircraft and communicating with them. The real-life repercussions of these non-existent regulations have been disastrous."
Added New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn: "The FAA's position has been wait and see. Well they waited, and what we saw was a tragedy."
Because of the three major area airports, the Hudson corridor is popular with aircraft not wanting to be subject to flight restrictions for those air spaces. Pilots taking that route use a practice called "see and avoid" to prevent accidents such as this one. But it has its limitations.
Unlike cars which only have to deal with other vehicles on a two-dimensional level, in front, beside them, behind them, helicopters and airplanes here in the Hudson corridor have to not only deal with vehicles around them, but above and below.
"I suspect that he was climbing, and he can't see behind him," said Tom Henricks, President of Aviation Week.
Henricks said in addition to using their eyes, its a good idea for all pilots in the Hudson corridor to broadcast their position on a special frequency other aircraft can listen in on.
"You're essentially just broadcasting, what we call broadcasting in the blind, telling anyone on that frequency what you're doing. And it's only for that airspace. But, it's not mandatory," he said.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said the corridor needs to be monitored now until new rules are set into place. "We must. We must suspend much of these flights below 1,100 feet until we put safety first," he said.
One suggestion: bring those hundreds of flights a day under the control of the FAA.
But Henricks said separating helicopters and other aircraft by altitude and giving them more room in which to operate is a better solution.
"Do the airliners really require controlling airspace down to 1100 feet?" asked Henricks
He speaks from experience. The former fighter pilot and astronaut has had his own moments of concern flying over the Hudson.
"It's a wonderful experience to see Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, but on a nice summer day, you really have to have your head on a swivel," he said.
The FAA said it would take an act of Congress for them to start controlling lower altitudes over the Hudson, and considering the sheer number of flights already being controlled into and out of this area, aviation experts say that's unlikely.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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