How Safe Are Helicopter Sightseeing Tours?

The on April 10 has left many people wondering such tours are. Commercial sightseeing helicopters take visitors places other tours can’t: , to in the mountains of Oahu, high above New York, serving up breathtaking views with a dose of adrenaline. The tours are popular; sightseeing helicopters are part of a multimillion-dollar industry in the United States.

In New York alone, the city’s heliports generate a “total economic impact” of $78 million a year, according to the . But sightseeing helicopters can operate under less rigorous safety requirements than other commercial aircraft such as airliners, charter planes and some private jets. The latest accident, which killed the pilot and a family of five visiting from Spain, comes after years of about how the Federal Aviation Administration should regulate these types of sightseeing tours and an attempt by Congress to tighten the rules.



How safe is flying in a helicopter compared with other forms of air travel? Flying on a commercial airliner is by far the safest form of air travel, with an average rate of fewer than 0.01 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours from 2019 to 2023, according to , the primary federal agency that investigates civil aviation accidents. Safety of helicopter flights vs.

other aircraft Number of accidents per 100,000 flight hours *Includes a small share of helicopter flights Source: National Transportation Safety Board; U.S. Helicopter Safety Team By The New York Times We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

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