1 dead when helicopter crashes into New York City skyscraper

[angelburst29]

Developing story ...

Live video updates: 1 dead when helicopter crashes into New York City skyscraper: Officials June 10, 2019
1 dead when helicopter crashes into New York City skyscraper

One person died when a helicopter crashed onto the roof of a Midtown Manhattan building in a hard landing on Monday, according to police and fire officials.

The crash sparked a fire which has since been extinguished, the New York Police Department said.

"People who were in the building said they felt the building shake," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters.

The crash is believed to be an accident; there's no indication of terrorism, a senior official with the Federal Aviation Administration told ABC News.

The building is located on 7th Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets, according to the New York City Fire Department.

The crash comes on a rainy New York afternoon; both Newark and LaGuardia Airports are in a ground stop due to visibility and thunderstorms, according to the FAA.

Additional details were not immediately available.

PHOTO: A view of 787 7th Avenue in midtown Manhattan where a helicopter was reported to have crashed in New York, June 10, 2019. (Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters)

PHOTO: A Google Earth map shows where a helicopter is reported to have made a hard landing onto the roof of a building in New York, June 10, 2019.
(Google Earth)

(Comment: The "center" location of the helicopter crash (51st and 52nd streets) in a strip of land, with water flowing on both sides - reminds me of the lay-out of France's Notre Dame Cathedral location and water flowing on both sides?)

 

[loreta]

Is this something normal that an Helicopter can fly on Manhattan? I thought it was a "no fly zone" since 9/11? Maybe I am confuse.

 

[Ca.]

Published on Jun 11, 2019

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Though Accidents Are Rare, Crash Highlights Perils of Flying Copters Over City (Published 2019)

The accident in Midtown Manhattan came less than a month after an aircraft crashed into the Hudson River.

www.nytimes.com

June 10, 2019 5-6 minute Read By Patrick McGeehan
New York|Though Accidents Are Rare, Crash Highlights Perils of Flying Copters Over City
The fatal helicopter crash in Midtown Manhattan on Monday underscored the hazards of having so many helicopters flying over such a densely populated area, and gave opponents of the frequent flights an opportunity to demand further restrictions on the airspace in and around New York City.

Helicopters come and go from three public heliports in Manhattan, shuttling government officials and business travelers and taking tourists on sightseeing excursions. Though accidents are not common, the aircraft have crashed into airplanes and buildings and dropped into the waters surrounding the island.

The accident on Monday was the second helicopter crash in less than a month and the latest of several fatal incidents in the area in the last 20 years. Only the pilot was aboard the aircraft that was flying in restricted airspace when it crashed on the roof of 787 Seventh Avenue, according to officials. He was reported to have been killed, officials said.

One of the worst crashes occurred last year when a helicopter, flying with its doors off, carried five customers to take pictures over the city. The helicopter suddenly lost power over Central Park and the pilot decided to land in the East River.

Despite floats being deployed, the helicopter rolled over and sank quickly, trapping the passengers who drowned before they could cut the straps attached to their harnesses. Only the pilot, who was not strapped in, survived.

In 2011, a helicopter carrying a group of tourists flipped over just after lifting off from a heliport on the east side of Manhattan. It fell into the East River and sank. Three passengers died.

And in 2009, a helicopter took off from a public heliport on the West Side of the city and ascended into the path of a small plane that was traveling down the Hudson River. Nine people aboard the two aircraft were killed, leading the Federal Aviation Administration in 2010 to tighten the rules on how fast and high aircraft must fly over the river.

The restrictions on helicopters have recently changed as well. Just a few years ago, more than 60,000 flights a year took off from the city’s public heliports, which are at East 34th Street, West 30th Street and near Wall Street. But in 2016, the city reached a compromise with helicopter operators to cut the number of flights in half.

A deal had to be struck because the city does not make the rules for flying; the airspace is controlled by federal regulators and their air-traffic control system. City officials feared that a complete ban on use of the three heliports would drive the operators to New Jersey, leaving them free to fly over New York with fewer limitations.

That agreement applied to sightseeing trips, which account for most of the flights around the city. Those flights are now confined to the downtown heliport, limited to flying over water and banned on Sundays.

Most helicopter passengers are tourists, who pay as much as $224 for a whirlwind tour that lasts no more than 15 minutes, or weekenders, who pay up to $795 to reach the Hamptons in less than an hour.

But there are also frequent flights to the city’s airports, some arranged by a company called Blade, which charges travelers $195 each way to Kennedy International, La Guardia or Newark Liberty International.

Some residents in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and on the East End of Long Island have been complaining for years about the noise and fumes generated by helicopters.

“At a certain point, the city has to decide if the economic benefits or the ease of travel for people of means is worth the risk,” Adrian Benepe, a former city parks commissioner, told The Times last month.

After the crash on Monday, Mr. Benepe criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for continuing to condone “nonessential” flights to and from the public heliports.

Mr. Cuomo on Monday called helicopters “an important part of the transportation system in New York.”