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| Helicopter Crashes on Roof of Manhattan Building, Killing Pilot | Helicopter Crashes on Roof of Manhattan Building, Killing Pilot |
| (32 minutes later) | |
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| A helicopter crashed onto the rooftop of a 51-story building in Midtown Manhattan on Monday afternoon and burst into flames. | A helicopter crashed onto the rooftop of a 51-story building in Midtown Manhattan on Monday afternoon and burst into flames. |
| Only one person was aboard the aircraft when it crashed on the roof of 787 Seventh Avenue at 51st Street at 1:43 p.m, city officials said. That person was reported to have been killed, according to two city officials. | Only one person was aboard the aircraft when it crashed on the roof of 787 Seventh Avenue at 51st Street at 1:43 p.m, city officials said. That person was reported to have been killed, according to two city officials. |
| A police official characterized the incident as a “hard landing.’’ | A police official characterized the incident as a “hard landing.’’ |
| The Fire Department said it was deploying over 100 emergency workers to the scene. | The Fire Department said it was deploying over 100 emergency workers to the scene. |
| Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who was at the scene, said there was no indication of terrorism. He said the helicopter seemed to have made an emergency landing. | Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who was at the scene, said there was no indication of terrorism. He said the helicopter seemed to have made an emergency landing. |
| Mr. Cuomo acknowledged that the initial reports of the accident unsettled New Yorkers. “If you’re a New Yorker, you have a level of P.T.S.D., right, from 9/11,’’ Mr. Cuomo said. “I remember that morning all too well.” | Mr. Cuomo acknowledged that the initial reports of the accident unsettled New Yorkers. “If you’re a New Yorker, you have a level of P.T.S.D., right, from 9/11,’’ Mr. Cuomo said. “I remember that morning all too well.” |
| Andrew Heath, 37, was working on the fifth floor of the building where the helicopter crashed. | Andrew Heath, 37, was working on the fifth floor of the building where the helicopter crashed. |
| “We heard an explosion — it sounded like a manhole cover had exploded,’’ he said. “I heard and felt it. It was like a thud. I was wondering if a really heavy truck was driving by, but it was a little too much.’’ | “We heard an explosion — it sounded like a manhole cover had exploded,’’ he said. “I heard and felt it. It was like a thud. I was wondering if a really heavy truck was driving by, but it was a little too much.’’ |
| Another worker on the seventh floor said it “felt like a small earthquake.’’ | |
| The site of the accident, the AXA Equitable Center, is an office tower that is more than 750-feet tall. It was built in 1985. | The site of the accident, the AXA Equitable Center, is an office tower that is more than 750-feet tall. It was built in 1985. |
| Melvin Douglas, 50, said he was selling umbrellas on Seventh Avenue near 51st Street when he heard a loud boom. He said that he and others on the street did not know a helicopter had crashed, and that they only realized something was wrong when people started streaming out of the tower. | |
| “Nobody knew what was really going on,” Mr. Douglas said. “We couldn’t see anything because it was so cloudy.” | |
| Diners at the famed three-star restaurant in the building, Le Bernardin, were evacuated after the crash. | |
| Anthony Cordero, one of the waiters, said he heard the sound of something crashing — “something unusual, I thought maybe some machinery working on the street.” | |
| Phones started flashing alerts. “As soon as people looked at their phones and saw that it was a plane, they rushed out of the building,” said Jenaro Mendoza, another waiter. | |
| The Bernardin chef, Eric Ripert, came out of the kitchen and asked everyone to evacuate. | |
| “You never know what it is — if it’s terrorism,” Mr. Cordero said. | |
| Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, Michael Gold, Patrick McGeehan, William K. Rashbaum, Ashley Southall and Ali Watkins contributed reporting. |