Greater than 10 of the helicopters that carry vacationers and executives across the Large Apple have been gassed up with gas containing metallic particles that might have precipitated them to fall from the sky, The Put up has realized.
A criticism in regards to the doubtlessly disastrous scenario was filed with the Federal Aviation Administration by HeliNY, which runs sightseeing excursions and constitution flights out of the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at Pier 6 within the Monetary District.
All helicopter operators in and across the metropolis had “to floor their fleets whereas gas strains in each machine could possibly be examined,” HeliNY operations director Oyvind Vataker wrote within the criticism.
“Upon testing the gas techniques of all our plane, we discovered the identical contamination in three of our six helicopters,” Vataker wrote. “This resulted in great expense and alternative price as a result of enterprise we misplaced whereas the machines have been down for upkeep to flush gas strains and exchange filters.”
The contaminated aviation fuel was first found by an unidentified helicopter operator on Oct. 28, in accordance with the criticism Vataker despatched to the FAA, which is investigating.
Aviation knowledgeable Peter Area of Chesterfield, Mo., instructed The Put up that metallic particles in aviation fuel can clog a helicopter’s fuel-injector nozzles and “may lead to an engine failure.”
“The place can it come down and land, until a heliport or the river?” Area mentioned. “New York on either side of the river is very populated and there’s virtually no place to come back down.”
In his letter, Vataker mentioned that Manhattan’s East thirtieth Road and West thirty fourth Road heliports had apparently been dominated out because the supply of the contamination.
All however one of many whirlybirds with soiled fuel fueled up at Pier 6 and, in accordance with the criticism, a chief suspect is allegedly Saker Aviation Providers, which runs the heliport there, he mentioned.
“Saker has a duty to check each cargo of gas it receives previous to pumping, and to repeatedly check the strains of their gas farm intermittently to ensure it's away from contaminants,” Vataker wrote.
“In the event that they failed to take action, that is negligence with an amazing financial price to my firm and others, and it may have had a doubtlessly disastrous consequence.”
A FAA spokesperson confirmed that the company was probing the supply of the soiled fuel however declined to remark additional.
In an announcement, Saker — a publicly traded firm that additionally runs the Backyard Metropolis Regional Airport in Kansas — mentioned, “There is no such thing as a indication that there was any contamination in our gas system.”
“Within the 15 years we now have operated the heliport we now have by no means had a difficulty of this nature,” the corporate mentioned. “Saker works continually with the FAA and can proceed to offer any info requested of us.”
Saker director and spokesperson Sam Goldstein additionally mentioned Monday that Vataker’s letter was mistaken and that the contaminated gas was found on Nov. 4 by Zip Aviation, which additionally operates out of the Pier 6 heliport.
Goldstein mentioned Saker’s gas system on the heliport has been out of service since Oct. 28 attributable to an unspecified leak.
He additionally launched a Nov. 4 “contaminated gas alert” electronic mail despatched by the Jap Area Helicopter Council, an business group, to its members.
“One in every of our operators has reported a contaminated gas situation in a number of ships of their fleet. The operator reported shopping for gas from each heliport and quite a few airports within the space,” the e-mail mentioned.
It added: “We propose that you simply test your gas filters you probably have purchased gas within the native NY/NJ space.”
Vataker mentioned Monday that the letter he signed and despatched to the FAA was written by a lawyer and that he couldn't clarify why it mentioned the contaminated gas was found on Oct. 28.
Zip Aviation didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
Greater than 30 folks have died in Large Apple chopper mishaps since 1977, together with 5 passengers who drowned within the East River when one in every of their harness tethers obtained tangled across the gas shut-off lever, killing energy to the rotors.
These victims have been on a “doors-off” sightseeing journey, which led the FAA to ban such flights until the passengers put on government-approved restraints.
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