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| Helicopter Crash Onto Manhattan Rooftop Kills Pilot | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] | [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] |
| For hours on Monday, fog had surrounded the skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan, hiding the upper floors. Suddenly, there was a jolt and a noise that some compared to an explosion. A helicopter had crashed onto the roof of a 51-story office building and burst into flames. | For hours on Monday, fog had surrounded the skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan, hiding the upper floors. Suddenly, there was a jolt and a noise that some compared to an explosion. A helicopter had crashed onto the roof of a 51-story office building and burst into flames. |
| Only one person was aboard the aircraft when it hit the roof of 787 Seventh Avenue at 51st Street, about 1:43 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. That person was reported to have been killed, two city officials said. | |
| A police official characterized the incident as a “hard landing.’’ But it was not immediately clear what caused the helicopter, an Agusta A109E, to crash blocks from heliports along the Hudson River and the East River. | A police official characterized the incident as a “hard landing.’’ But it was not immediately clear what caused the helicopter, an Agusta A109E, to crash blocks from heliports along the Hudson River and the East River. |
| The police commissioner, James P. O'Neill, said it had taken off from the heliport on the East River at 34th Street at 1:32 p.m., 11 minutes before it slammed into the building. | |
| The helicopter’s home base was an airport in Linden, N.J., where Paul Dudley, the airport manager, identified the pilot as Tim McCormack. He said Mr. McCormack worked for the helicopter’s owner, Daniele Bodini, who he said commuted to the city from upstate New York. | |
| The crash prompted building evacuations as the police closed off streets. And it unnerved New Yorkers who wondered if it had been an accident or something deliberate. | |
| But Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who arrived quickly 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 people. “If you’re a New Yorker, you have a level of PTSD, 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 people. “If you’re a New Yorker, you have a level of PTSD, right, from 9/11,’’ Mr. Cuomo said. “I remember that morning all too well.” |
| There were several reports of a helicopter flying erratically near the East River not long before the crash, which was being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. | There were several reports of a helicopter flying erratically near the East River not long before the crash, which was being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. |
| Wendy Slater, 46, was walking her pit bull Ewing on the East River near 20th Street when she heard the sound of a low-flying helicopter coming from behind. | Wendy Slater, 46, was walking her pit bull Ewing on the East River near 20th Street when she heard the sound of a low-flying helicopter coming from behind. |
| “It was flying really low, going up and diving down, flying sideways,” she said. “I just thought he was going to crash right there in the river, but then he went north.” | “It was flying really low, going up and diving down, flying sideways,” she said. “I just thought he was going to crash right there in the river, but then he went north.” |
| Still, the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks flashed through the minds of people in Le Bernardin, the three-star Michelin restaurant at the bottom of the building. The lunchtime crowd, eating lobster and drinking Champagne, was jolted by the noise. “It goes through everyone’s mind,” said Jenaro Mendoza, a waiter, recalling the Sept. 11 attacks. Added a colleague, Antony Cordero, “You never know what it is, if it’s terrorism.” | |
| At table after table, cellphones started flashing alerts about a plane crash. Before long the chef, Eric Ripert, emerged from the kitchen and asked everyone to evacuate. | At table after table, cellphones started flashing alerts about a plane crash. Before long the chef, Eric Ripert, emerged from the kitchen and asked everyone to evacuate. |
| 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.’’ | 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. |
| The building houses a number of law firms, including Sidley Austin and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and some operations of several financial services firms, including BNP Paribas, UBS and Citibank, as well as an office of CalPERS, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. | The building houses a number of law firms, including Sidley Austin and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and some operations of several financial services firms, including BNP Paribas, UBS and Citibank, as well as an office of CalPERS, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. |
| 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. | 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.” | “Nobody knew what was really going on,” Mr. Douglas said. “We couldn’t see anything because it was so cloudy.” |
| Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, Michael Gold, Patrick McGeehan, William K. Rashbaum, Ashley Southall and Ali Watkins contributed reporting. | Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, Michael Gold, Patrick McGeehan, William K. Rashbaum, Ashley Southall and Ali Watkins contributed reporting. |