The NTSB is prodding the FAA to move forward with a ban on commercial flights that do not use quick-release passenger harnesses. On Monday the safety agency issued an urgent safety recommendation calling on the FAA to “prohibit” such flights into the wake of the NTSB's ongoing investigation of last week's East River helicopter crash in New York City that killed five. The NTSB noted, “The pilot, who was not wearing a harness, only manufacturer-installed lap and shoulder belts, escaped from the helicopter with minor injuries. Five passengers who wore the harnesses in addition to the safety belts remained inside the helicopter and drowned.”

The FAA in a March 16 Tweet said it "will order operators and pilots to take immediate action to control/mitigate this risk. Until then, the FAA will order no more ‘doors off’ operations that involve restraints that cannot be released quickly in an emergency.”

“While we applaud the FAA’s intention to move forward on banning these types of doors-off flights, the FAA has not outlined how or when it plans to take action,’’ said NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt. “And definitive action needs to be taken.”

 “We expect to take formal action very soon," an FAA spokesman said on Tuesday.

The NTSB reported on Monday that the harness system consisted of a nylon fall-protection harness tethered via a lanyard to the helicopter. “The harnesses allowed passengers to move securely within the helicopter, including sitting in the door sill, while airborne,” the Safety Board said. “The harness system was not installed by the helicopter manufacturer; it was composed of off-the-shelf components that were provided to the passengers by FlyNYON, the company that sold the experience to the passengers. Under normal circumstances at the conclusion of each flight, FlyNYON personnel would release a locking carabiner located on the back of the passengers’ harnesses."

Despite being briefed on how to remove the harnesses using a provided cutting tool, none of the passengers was able to escape, NTSB said. “The pilot’s manufacturer-installed restraint system was required to comply with 14 CFR section 27.785(c), which states that ‘Each occupant’s seat must have a combined safety belt and shoulder harness with a single point release.” The FAA had not evaluated the harness system provided to the passengers in the accident.

The NTSB has long been concerned about safe egress for passengers aboard helicopters, it said, and pointed to an accident in 2008 in which three passengers had a difficult time releasing restraint buckles of a helicopter during an emergency evacuation. In that 2008 accident, passengers were briefed on the operation of the rotary restraint, but the passengers said they became confused with its release when the accident occurred.