Rotorcraft
Schumer Calls For Mandatory FDRs in All Helicopters
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calls for mandatory flight data recorders in helicopters in wake of last week's crash in NYC.

Longtime helicopter critic U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is calling for mandatory flight data recorders (FDRs) in all rotorcraft in the wake of last week’s crash of a Leonardo AW109E atop a Manhattan high-rise. The light twin model year 2000 AW109 went down in rain, fog, and limited visibility and was not equipped with either an FDR or a cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Pilot Tim McCormack, the sole occupant, died. He was not instrument-rated and had pierced the boundary of the midtown Manhattan TFR.