Helicopter crashes on roof of NYC skyscraper, killing pilot

A helicopter crashed on the roof of a rain-shrouded midtown Manhattan skyscraper, killing the pilot and briefly triggering memories of 9/11, after an erratic trip across some of the nation's most restricted airspace. Authorities said they did not suspect terrorism.

The crash near Times Square and Trump Tower on Monday shook the 750-foot (229-meter) AXA Equitable building, sparked a fire, and forced office workers to flee on elevators and down stairs, witnesses and officials said.

The pilot was the only person aboard, and there were no other reports of injuries, authorities said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, or why the Agusta A109E was flying in a driving downpour with low cloud cover and in the tightly controlled airspace of midtown Manhattan.

A flight restriction in effect since President Donald Trump took office bans aircraft from flying below 3,000 feet (914 meters) within a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) radius of Trump Tower, which is less than a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) from the crash site.

"There's something mysterious here," Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN, saying officials were scrutinizing video of a "very erratic" flight and authorities needed to find out more about the pilot at the time he decided to take off.

One lawmaker called for "non-essential" helicopter flights over Manhattan to be banned.

The pilot, identified by his employer as Tim McCormack, was a former fire chief in upstate Clinton, New York. With 15 years of experience flying helicopters and single-engine airplanes, he was certified as a flight instructor last year, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

The East Clinton Volunteer Fire Department posted on Facebook that McCormack's "technical knowledge and ability to command an emergency were exceptional." The 19-year-old helicopter was linked to a real estate company founded by Italian-born investor
He suspects that a mechanical problem or the weather "overwhelmed him and the helicopter," Dudley said. "I believe he tried to get on the roof and spare the people on the ground."