Fire Department officials at the scene of the helicopter wreckage on the roof on the 7th Ave building in Manhattan. Photo / FDNY
Fire Department officials at the scene of the helicopter wreckage on the roof on the 7th Ave building in Manhattan. Photo / FDNY
The helicopter crash in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday underscored the hazards of having so many helicopters flying over such a densely populated area, possibly amplifying the frequent demands for greater restrictions on those flights.
Helicopters come and go from three public heliports in Manhattan, shuttling government officials and business travellersand taking tourists on sightseeing excursions. Though accidents are rare, the aircraft have crashed into airplanes and buildings and dropped into the waters surrounding the island.
The accident Tuesday was the second helicopter crash in less than a month and the latest of several fatal incidents in and around New York City in the past 20 years. One person was aboard the aircraft when it crashed on the roof of 787 Seventh Ave., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The person was reported to have been killed, according to city officials.
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.
Five people died in 2018 after the helicopter made an emergency landing and flipped upside down. Photo / Getty Images
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.
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.
Pedestrians look on as firefighters gather outside following the helicopter crash. Photo / Peter Foley, The New York Times
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 US$224 for a whirlwind tour that lasts no more than 15 minutes, or weekenders, who pay up to US$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 travellers US$195 each way to Kennedy International, La Guardia or Newark Liberty International in New Jersey.
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.
Firefighters head into 787 Seventh Ave. in Manhattan following the crash of a helicopter onto the rooftop. Photo / Peter Foley, The New York Times
"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 New York Times last month.
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday called helicopters "an important part of the transportation system in New York."
