NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A helicopter crashed on top of a building in Midtown Monday afternoon.
Numerous emergency responders rushed to the scene at 787 Seventh Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets.
It happened shortly before 2 p.m.
The pilot of the helicopter was killed.
Sources tell CBS2 the pilot radioed before the crash that he was in trouble.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that a helicopter made a “forced” or “emergency” landing on top of the building.
The landing sparked a fire which is now under control, Cuomo said.
“The preliminary information is that there was a helicopter that made a forced landing, an emergency landing or landed on the roof of the building for one reason or another. There was a fire that happened when the helicopter hit the roof. People who were in the building said they felt the building shake. The fire department believes the fire is under control. There may have been casualties involved in people in the helicopter,” Cuomo said. “We don’t know what caused the helicopter to land on top of the building but people in the building itself, nobody has been hurt.”
The building was evacuated.
There is no helipad on top of the building’s roof.
No debris from the crash was on the street below, the damage was contained to the building’s roof.
“If you’re a New Yorker you have a level of PTSD from 9/11 and I remember that morning all too well. So as soon as you hear an aircraft hit a building, I think my mind goes where every New Yorker’s mind goes,” Cuomo said.
The incident took place amid rain and fog.
Seventh Avenue below West 57th Street was closed to vehicular traffic.
West 51st Street and West 52nd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues was closed to vehicles and pedestrians, the NYPD said.
Check back soon for more on this developing story.
