Smoke billowed from the building.
At about 13:43 EASTERN TIME on June 10, a helicopter crashed on the roof of an office building in Manhattan, New York, USA, causing a fire. There was only one pilot on board and only one person was killed in the accident. Witnesses said helicopters were observed flying high and low before the accident, which experts believe was an attempt to avoid injuring passers-by on the ground. After the accident, people in the building were evacuated and the fire was subsequently extinguished.
According to NBC, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the accident was caused by an Agusta A109e helicopter. The driver, Tim McCormack, the only passenger, died instantly at the scene of the accident.
According to CNN, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the crash. The cause of the accident remains inconclusive, but visibility in New York dropped sharply due to rain that day. According to a law enforcement officer, the helicopter's pilot was waiting for the weather to improve before setting off, but for some reason decided to leave immediately. New York police said the helicopter took off from 34th Avenue at 13:32 and crashed at 787 Seventh Avenue about 11 minutes later.
According to Reuters, the most crucial mystery of the accident is why the helicopter involved can fly in the tightly controlled airspace of Manhattan. New York Mayor De Blasio said that to enter the nearby area, pilots need to get approval from the airport's traffic control towers. In addition, the accident site is only about half a mile from Trump Tower under US President Trump. The region has been under flight control since Trump's election in November 2016.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the crashed pilot, McCormack, was a pilot with 15 years of flying experience who was qualified as a pilot trainer last year and was experienced and respected. According to local media reports in the United States, McCormack served for ten years as the fire department of Dutches County in eastern New York State.
The ABC channel wabc reported on McCormack's successful landing in 2014 while piloting a sightseeing helicopter carrying six tourists. The helicopter was suddenly hit by a bird in the front window and the glass was obviously broken, and it needed to be forced to land. McCormack said after the accident that he put years of experience into practice and that the accident did not cause any casualties in the end.
According to reports, the helicopter that crashed was scheduled to land at Linden Airport in New Jersey. According to The New York Times, the airport's chief, Paul Dudley, believes the crash site is the best place mcCormack can find the most suitable place to land in the dense area. He also highlighted McCormack's extensive driving experience and familiarity with the surrounding area in a telephone interview with Reuters. The U.S. television news program Inside Edition reported that McCormack tried to force a landing on the flat surface of the roof, but fell too violently at 787 on Seventh Avenue.
Continental Airlines, which owns the helicopter, said McCormack had served them for the past five years. In a statement, the company expressed its condolences for the killed pilots.
Manhattan has reportedly had a number of accidents in which small planes hit skyscrapers. In 2006, a plane carrying a New York Yankees pitcher crashed into a 40-story building on the Upper East Side. In 1977, a helicopter crash occurred on the roof of the Pan Am Building, killing five people.