Helicopter crashes into New York City building

By Meg Wagner and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 8:01 p.m. ET, June 10, 2019
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5:44 p.m. ET, June 10, 2019

Firefighters took 30 minutes to put out the rooftop blaze

From CNN's Elizabeth Joseph

A firefighter looks up near a building where a helicopter crash-landed in midtown Manhattan in New York on June 10, 2019.
A firefighter looks up near a building where a helicopter crash-landed in midtown Manhattan in New York on June 10, 2019. JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images

The New York Fire Department has concluded their operations at the site of the helicopter crash in midtown Manhattan.

“The NTSB, the FAA, (and) the New York City Police Department are all on the scene to do their investigation, and our operations have concluded at this time,” said Thomas Richardson, chief of fire operations.

Lt. Adrienne Walsh, one of the department’s first responders, described the roof scene as “a debris field that was on fire” in a news conference. 

“So I immediately got on the radio to let command know what we had on the roof so they down below could start sending the appropriate resources up to us on the roof,” she said.

Richardson said high-rise buildings present challenges, but the fire department has ways to work around them.

“So whenever we have a fire in a high rise building — 54 stories, it’s over 700 feet tall — we always have challenges being able to get enough water pressure to get up to the higher levels of the building. We have standard operating procedures to do that. We have fire engines that connect to the standpipe system and supply pressure. We also in this type of building use the manual fire pumps that are in the building … to increase the pressure.”

The first firefighters were on scene within five minutes, and “within half an hour we had water on the fire and most of the fire extinguished,” he said.

5:22 p.m. ET, June 10, 2019

The pilot was waiting out the weather — but later decided to fly

From CNN's Shimon Prokupecz

Based on interviews the NYPD conducted at the 34th Street heliport on Manhattan’s east side, the pilot was waiting out weather but for whatever reason decided it was OK to go.

The pilot then flew around Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan and up the west side of the island.

Somewhere between 40th and 49th streets, the pilot began to veer towards midtown Manhattan before the helicopter ultimately made the crash landing.

4:58 p.m. ET, June 10, 2019

Trump says he spoke with Gov. Andrew Cuomo about helicopter crash

From CNN's Kevin Liptak

President Trump said he's spoken with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo about a helicopter crash in Manhattan.

He said the White House is working closely with New York City and the state of New York.

"There will be a report in a little while as to what happened and why it happened," Trump said.

He noted the pilot of the helicopter had died.

4:49 p.m. ET, June 10, 2019

This is what the helicopter crash looked like

The New York Fire Department just shared these photos of today's deadly helicopter crash:

4:42 p.m. ET, June 10, 2019

NTSB sends investigator to helicopter crash

From CNN's Greg Wallace

The National Transportation Safety Board just tweeted that it is sending an investigator to look into the Manhattan helicopter crash.

New York City officials said a helicopter crash-landed on the roof of a midtown Manhattan building, sparking a fire and killing one person believed to be the pilot.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said there was no indication that the crash was an act of terror, and he said there were no injuries to anyone in the building or on the ground.

4:19 p.m. ET, June 10, 2019

Here's what we DON'T know about the helicopter crash

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials just held a news conference to give an update about today's helicopter crash.

They confirmed that one person, presumed to be the pilot was killed and said that there is no indication that the crash was terror-related.

But there are still a lot of things we don't know right now:

  • Why did the helicopter crash? Officials said the investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
  • Who was killed in the crash? While officials said the one victim of the crash is presumed to be the pilot, they did not identify him or her.
  • Why was the helicopter in the area? New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pointed out that aircraft are not allowed in the area where the helicopter crashed without approval from the LaGuardia Airport tower. It's not clear why this helicopter was flying over Midtown Manhattan.
  • Why was the helicopter flying in weather like this? It's rainy and overcast in New York today. Asked by a reporter why the helicopter was out, New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill said, "We are not sure. That is part of the investigation."
4:19 p.m. ET, June 10, 2019

The helicopter was in the air for 11 minutes

The helicopter that crashed into a Manhattan building was only in the air for 11 minutes, officials said.

"At approximately 1:32 this afternoon, the helicopter took off at the 34th Street heliport and about 11 minutes later crashed across the street from where we are now," Police Commissioner James O'Neill said at a news conference.

O'Neill said the first 911 calls came in at 1:43 p.m. ET and reported a crash and a fire on top of a 54-story office building on 7th Avenue.

Officials said several agencies are working together to figure out why the helicopter was in the area, and what went wrong.

"Right now, the FBI are working with the FAA and the NTSB to gather additional info on the pilot, we believe we've tentatively identified the aircraft, the flight path, and its owner," O'Neill said.
4:14 p.m. ET, June 10, 2019

Authorities are working to confirm pilot's ID

New York authorities have preliminarily identified the pilot who died in Monday’s helicopter crash.

“We have him preliminarily identified, but it’s not confirmed yet. Plus we’re looking out for his family too,” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said in a news conference.

Asked if the pilot made a stress call from the helicopter, O'Neill said, "That’s part of the investigation – to see if there was any contact made with air traffic control.”

4:11 p.m. ET, June 10, 2019

Helicopter shouldn't have been in the area — especially because of Trump Tower, New York City mayor says

The building involved in the helicopter crash did not have a landing pad, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN.

"Helicopters have not been landing on buildings in Manhattan for decades," he said. "There was a horrible crash in what was the Pan Am building some years ago and it was banned after that. And in fact, a helicopter should not in this area of Manhattan without the approve of LaGuardia Airport tower."

De Blasio added that the helicopter shouldn't have been in the area especially because of Trump Tower.

"But something like this should have been authorized. We don't have any indication it was, but we're still investigating to confirm that," he said.

The mayor said the aircraft was flown by a "commercial pilot."

"This is someone who's been doing this work for a while. Apparently was an executive helicopter used to ferry around executives," de Blasio said.