An air traffic controller should have warned the pilot of a small plane about aircraft in its path before it collided with a sightseeing helicopter over New York's Hudson River, federal officials said Thursday. That pilot was Steven Altman from Montgomery County. The crash claimed nine lives, including Altman, his brother and his nephew.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration with five safety recommendations, including that helicopters and small planes be separated in the busy air corridor where the collision occurred. It's a low-altitude pathway used by daily by about 200 helicopters and small planes daily.
A second recommendation called on the FAA to emphasize the need for air traffic controllers to remain attentive, a clear rebuke to the controller responsible for the single-engine Piper that hit the helicopter Aug. 8. The Teterboro Airport controller was on the phone with his girlfriend before and during the crash, which led to his suspension. His supervisor, who was out of the building at the time running a personal errand, was also put on paid leave.
"The NTSB is concerned with the complacency and inattention to duty evidenced by the actions of the controller and supervisor," NTSB Chairman Debbie Hersman wrote. The FAA, which does not have to act on the NTSB's recommendations, had no comment.
Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, defended the controller and accused the NTSB of rushing to assign blame.
"The bottom line here is that the controller is not responsible for contributing to this tragic accident and he did everything he
could do," Forrey said.
The collision between the Piper and the Eurocopter helicopter showered debris on the river and the streets of the northern New Jersey community of Hoboken. Five Italian tourists aboard the helicopter and their New Zealand-born pilot were killed. Three members of the Altman family from the Philadelphia suburbs also died. They were on board the airplane. Steven Altman, 60, was the pilot of the single-engine Piper. His brother, Daniel Altman, 48, and Daniel's 15-year-old son, Doug, were passengers.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general warned about lax safety oversight of the for-hire flight business less than a month before the Hudson midair collision.
