No Other Injuries Reported By FAA, NYPD, FDNY

A helicopter made a hard landing earlier today (Monday) on the rooftop of a high-rise building in New York City, resulting in the fatal injury of the pilot of the aircraft.

In a message posted to Twitter, the FAA said "An Agusta A109E helicopter crashed on the roof of 787 Seventh Ave. in New York at around 1:45pm today. Preliminary information is that only the pilot was aboard. FAA air traffic controllers did not handle the flight. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will determine probable cause of the accident.  We will release the aircraft registration after NYC officials release the pilot’s name."

The weather was reported to be a steady rain that obscured the rooftop of the building, the AXA Equitable building just north of Time Square. The accident caused a fire on the rooftop, which the NYPD reported was quickly extinguished. Police were advising people to avoid the area around the building.

Fox News is reporting that the helicopter apparently experienced a mechanical issue which led the pilot to attempt the landing on the rooftop.

NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said during a news conference that the helicopter, which was privately owned, departed from the 34th Street Heliport on Manhattan's east side at about 1332 local time. The pilot was believed to be on a "executive travel" flight and was enroute to his "home airport in Linden, NJ." O'Neill said the accident occurred about 11 minutes into the flight.

Terrorism is not suspected in the accident, and no one in the building or on the ground has reportedly been injured, but fuel was leaking from the helicopter leading to an evacuation of the building.

(Image from file. Not accident aircraft)

FMI: Source report