OT: Helicopter crashes into Manhattan building....
- Thread starter psuro
- Start date
Years ago, a local company used to land old Hueys on top of the (then) Pan Am Building, and offer service to JFK from downtown. It was a great idea - until one day, when coming in for a landing, one of the blades sheared off, and crashed into the waiting area, killing one or two people, and then some parts fell over the side, killing some young woman.
That was the last of it. Although there is a company that offers heli transport to JFK from 30 Street Seaport.
That was the last of it. Although there is a company that offers heli transport to JFK from 30 Street Seaport.
When I got off active duty, I caught a flight from Alabama to JFK and then a commercial helicopter from JFK to Newark to catch a train back to Philly. That company had copters that would seat about 12-15 passengers (bigger than Hueys) and made stops at JFK, LaGuardia, the Pan Am building and Newark.
I was amazed at the amount of heli traffic I saw among the buildings on a business trip to Sao Paulo Brazil. You could look out a window and see a heli land on a rooftop on a pretty regular basis. Since then I've kind of wondered why we don't see that much heli commuter traffic in the US in any city. I suppose there could be a number of reasons but I'd image the easiest explanation is that air traffic control simply doesn't allow it.
The helis in NYC fly under 1000 feet and that is below ATC. They work off an open mike system and communicate with each other. Until they get close to JFK or another airport. Then they need ATC approval around the airports.
