A passenger exiting a helicopter at the W. 30th St. Heliport, where business and commuter flights are still allowed.
Maloney: Ban ‘nonessential’ ’copter fl ights
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
Following Monday’s fatal helicopter
crash onto the roof of
the AXA Equitable building in
Midtown, Carolyn Maloney, who represents
the area in Congress, renewed
her call to ban nonessential helicopter
fl ights from Manhattan.
Flying in heavy fog and rain, the pilot,
identifi ed as Tim McCormack, 58,
reportedly tried to make an emergency
crash-landing on top of the skyscraper,
at 787 Seventh Ave., between W. 51st
and W. 52nd Sts., which lacks a helipad.
McCormack, who was the only
passenger, died as the ’copter blew into
pieces and sparked a two-alarm fi re.
According to the New York Post, the
pilot had lifted off from the E. 34th St.
Heliport, after having dropped off his
passenger, and was en route back to
his “home port” in Linden, N.J. He
fl ew down the East Side and then back
up the Hudson River — but apparently
got lost in the low-visibility conditions
and wound up over Midtown.
News helicopters reportedly were
told the cloud ceiling — 900 feet —
was too low to fl y. Visibility at the time
of the crash was less than 1 mile because
of heavy fog.
Eyewitness News said the helicopter
was being used for “executive travel.”
“Today, New York City experienced
yet another deadly helicopter crash,
this time, with our nightmare of having
a helicopter crash into a building,”
Maloney said. “The pilot was killed and
no one else was seriously injured — but
this pilot’s death is one too many. We
cannot rely on good fortune to protect
people on the ground. It is past time
for the F.A.A. to ban unnecessary helicopters
from the skies over our densely
packed urban city. The risks to New
Yorkers are just too high.”
In March 2018, Maloney and Congressmember
Jerrold Nadler led a
group of their New York and New Jersey
colleagues in voicing their continued
opposition to helicopter tourism in
light of the March 11, 2018, helicopter
crash in the East River that killed
fi ve passengers.
New York banned helicopters from
landing on rooftops following a 1977
crash into the Pan Am Building, now
called the Met Life Building.
FILE PHOTO
COURTESY CNBC
The fatal helicopter crash on top of the AXA Equitable building in Midtown
sparked a two-alarm fire.
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