2019 New York City helicopter crash

Last updated

2019 New York City helicopter crash
A109E Power - RIAT 2013 (12347891265).jpg
An AgustaWestland AW109E similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
DateJune 10, 2019;5 years ago (2019-06-10)
SummaryHelicopter crashed onto roof of a building
Site Axa Equitable Center, 787 Seventh Avenue, New York City
40°45′43″N73°58′56″W / 40.761882°N 73.982181°W / 40.761882; -73.982181
Aircraft
Aircraft type AgustaWestland AW109E
Registration N200BK
Flight origin East 34th Street Heliport (6N5) [1]
Destination Linden, New Jersey
Occupants1
Passengers0
Crew1 [2]
Fatalities1
Survivors0

On June 10, 2019, an Agusta A109E Power crashed onto the Axa Equitable Center on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, which sparked a fire on the top of the building. The helicopter involved in the accident, N200BK, [3] was destroyed. The only occupant was the pilot, Tim McCormack, who died in the crash. [4] The aircraft was owned by Italian American businessman Daniele Bodini at the time of the crash. [1] [5]

Contents

Accident

The flight originated from the East 34th Street Heliport (FAA LID: 6N5) at approximately 1:32 PM EDT bound for Linden, New Jersey. At around 1:43 PM EDT on June 10, 2019, the helicopter, an Agusta A109E Power, registration N200BK, crashed on the roof of the Axa Equitable Center, [6] sparking a fire on the top of the building. The first emergency call was made at 1:43 PM. The FDNY has considered the accident as a "hard landing." The fire on the top of the highrise was extinguished quickly.

Investigation

The NTSB final report [7] states that day instrument meteorological conditions were encountered (nearby station reporting 500 ft (150 m) overcast ceiling and 1.25 mi (2.0 km) visibility) for the Part 91 corporate flight, that basic visual flight rules weather minimums for helicopters are 0.5 mi (0.8 km) visibility, and remain clear of clouds, that the pilot radioed that he "did not know where he was", and that tracking data showed that the helicopter "flew erratically" and "changed course and altitude several times". A witness-recorded video of part of the flight is available. [8]

Aftermath


After the accident, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio briefed the press, confirming a lack of further victims or apparent terroristic motive. [8] The National Transportation Safety Board sent agents to investigate the accident. [9] The accident prompted Mayor de Blasio to call for a ban on non-emergency helicopters flying over Manhattan. [10] Former City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe countered that the mayor had the authority to eliminate ninety percent of helicopter traffic by himself by eliminating the more than 200 daily tourist and charter flights from city-owned heliports. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heliport</span> Airport designed for helicopter use

A heliport, sometimes termed a vertiport, is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and various types of vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. In some larger towns and cities, customs facilities may also be available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teterboro Airport</span> General aviation airport in Teterboro, New Jersey

Teterboro Airport is a general aviation relief airport in the boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights in Bergen County, New Jersey. It is owned and managed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and operated by AFCO AvPORTS Management. The airport is in the New Jersey Meadowlands, 12 miles (19 km) from Midtown Manhattan, which makes it popular for private and corporate aircraft. The airport has a weight limit of 100,000 pounds (45,000 kg) on aircraft, making it nonviable for commercial service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AgustaWestland AW109</span> Turbine helicopter by Leonardo

The AgustaWestland AW109, originally the Agusta A109, is a lightweight, twin-engine, eight-seat multi-purpose helicopter designed and initially produced by the Italian rotorcraft manufacturer Agusta. It was the first all-Italian helicopter to be mass-produced. Its production has been continued by Agusta's successor companies, presently Leonardo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Heliport</span> Airport in London, England

London Heliport, previously called Battersea Heliport and currently known officially as the EdmistonLondon Heliport for sponsorship reasons, is London's only licensed heliport. The facility, which was built by W. & C. French and opened on 23 April 1959, is located in Battersea on the south bank of the River Thames, 3 NM southwest of Westminster Bridge and between Wandsworth Bridge and Battersea Railway Bridge.

New York Airways was an American helicopter airline in the New York City area, founded in 1949 as a mail and cargo carrier. On 9 July 1953 it may have been the first scheduled helicopter airline to carry passengers in the United States, with headquarters at LaGuardia Airport. Although primarily a helicopter airline operator with scheduled passenger operations, New York Airways also flew fixed wing aircraft, such as the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 19-passenger STOL twin turboprop aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Air Lines Flight 66</span> 1975 aviation accident

Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 was a regularly scheduled flight from New Orleans to New York City that crashed on June 24, 1975 while on approach to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing 113 of the 124 people on board. The crash was determined to be caused by wind shear caused by a microburst, but the failure of the airport and the flight crew to recognize the severe weather hazard was also a contributing factor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copterline</span> Defunct Finnish airline

Copterline Oy was Finland's largest helicopter airline established on 15 October 1990 as Copter Action and renamed to Copterline in 2000. In 2004 the company ferried over 75,000 passengers. On December 19, 2008, Copterline confirmed that it had ceased its scheduled service between Helsinki and Tallinn. On 15 February 2010, Copterline filed for bankruptcy, citing inability to keep the company profitable. Its head office was located on the grounds of Helsinki-Malmi Airport in Helsinki. In 2011, Line Support Oy, founded by mostly the same group as Copterline Oy, announced a resumption of service from September, operated by its Estonian subsidiary Copterline OÜ. On 9 September 2011, the first commercial flights were undertaken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axa Equitable Center</span> Office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

Axa Equitable Center is an office skyscraper at 787 Seventh Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1986 and designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, the building measures 752 feet (229 m) tall with 54 stories. Equitable Center West was developed by the Equitable Life Assurance Society adjacent to Equitable's existing skyscraper at 1285 Avenue of the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 New York City Cirrus SR20 crash</span> Aircraft crash into a building

On October 11, 2006, a Cirrus SR20 aircraft crashed into the Belaire Apartments in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, at about 2:42 p.m. EDT. The aircraft struck the north side of the building, causing a fire in several apartments, that was extinguished within two hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sikorsky S-61</span> Series of civil transport helicopters

The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the SH-3 Sea King military helicopter. They were developed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UW Med Flight</span> Air ambulance service

UW Health Med Flight is an air ambulance service based at University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. Med Flight was established in 1985, and now operate 3 bases in Madison, Mineral Point and Portage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East 34th Street Heliport</span> Airport in New York, NY

East 34th Street Heliport is a heliport on the east side of Manhattan located on the East River Greenway, between the East River and the FDR Drive viaduct. Also known as the Atlantic Metroport at East 34th Street, it is a public heliport owned by New York City and run by the Economic Development Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Airways Flight 841</span> 1968 helicopter accident

Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 was a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter that crashed at 5:50 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22, 1968, in the city of Paramount, California. All twenty passengers and three crew members were killed. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire. The probable cause of the accident was a mechanical failure in the blade rotor system, which then allowed one blade to strike the side of the fuselage. The other four blades were then thrown out of balance and all five rotor blades broke and then the rear fuselage and tail separated from the rest of the airframe. The cause of the mechanical failure is undetermined. At the time, it was the worst helicopter-related accident in U.S. aviation history, not to be surpassed until the 1986 Grand Canyon mid-air collision which killed 25.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LAPD Air Support Division</span> Division of Los Angeles Police, California, U.S.

The Air Support Division (ASD) is the police aviation division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). It is the largest municipal airborne law enforcement organization in the United States and operates from the LAPD Hooper Heliport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West 30th Street Heliport</span> Heliport on the west side of Manhattan in New York City

The West 30th Street Heliport is a heliport on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. The original heliport opened with two landing pads on September 26, 1956, and that December New York Airways began scheduled passenger flights, the first airline flights to Manhattan. It is owned by the Hudson River Park Trust and operated by Abigail Trenk and Brian Tolbert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Hudson River mid-air collision</span> 2009 aviation incident

On August 8, 2009, at 11:53 a.m. (15:53 UTC), nine people died when a tour helicopter and a small private airplane collided over the Hudson River near Frank Sinatra Park in Hoboken, New Jersey, United States. The aircraft were in an area known as the "Hudson River VFR Corridor", which extends from the surface of the river to altitudes of 800 to 1,500 ft at various locations along the Hudson River in the immediate area of New York City. Within this corridor, aircraft operate under visual flight rules (VFR), under which the responsibility to see and avoid other air traffic rests with the individual pilots rather than with the air traffic controller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vauxhall helicopter crash</span> 2013 aviation accident in London

On 16 January 2013, an Agusta A109 helicopter crashed in Vauxhall, London, after it collided with the jib of a construction crane attached to St George Wharf Tower. Two people died in the incident: the pilot, Pete Barnes, 50, and a pedestrian, Matthew Wood, 39, from Sutton in south London. Five people were taken to hospital and seven more were treated at the scene.

1991 Vallejo helicopter crash

On October 25, 1991, a Bell 206 carrying rock music concert promoter Bill Graham, his girlfriend Melissa Gold, and pilot Steve Kahn crashed into a transmission tower west of Vallejo, California, killing everyone on board. The cause of the accident was determined to be the pilot's intentional flight into known adverse weather conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 New York City helicopter crash</span> Helicopter crash

On March 11, 2018, a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the East River off the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, killing 5 people. Two passengers died at the scene, and three others were pronounced dead at the hospital. The pilot escaped the helicopter following the crash. The aircraft was operated by Liberty Helicopters for FlyNyon.

References

  1. 1 2 "1 dead in helicopter crash-landing on Manhattan building". ABC7 New York. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  2. Barron, James (June 10, 2019). "Helicopter Crashes on Roof of Manhattan Building, Killing Pilot". The New York Times. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  3. Pope, Stephen (June 11, 2019). "NTSB Begins Investigation into Cause of New York City Helicopter Crash". Flying. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  4. "One dead in helicopter crash on NYC skyscraper". BBC News. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  5. Sandler, Rachel. "Who Is The Owner Of The Helicopter That Crashed, Killed 1 in New York City?". Forbes. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  6. "Helicopter crashes into roof of Midtown NYC building, killing one". nydailynews.com. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  7. NTSB (February 9, 2022). "ERA19FA191 - Final Report" . Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  8. 1 2 "Helicopter crashes into New York City building: Latest updates". www.cnn.com. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  9. DiLorenzo, Anthony (June 11, 2019). "NTSB investigating deadly helicopter crash landing on Manhattan skyscraper". WPIX 11 New York. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  10. 1 2 Marsh, Julia; Calder, Rich (June 14, 2019). "De Blasio calls for ban on helicopters flying over Manhattan". New York Post. Retrieved June 18, 2019.