A helicopter crashed on top of a building in midtown Manhattan on Monday, the New York Police Department confirmed to PIX-11.
ADVISORY: Please avoid the area of West 51st and 7th Ave due to an ongoing police investigation. Expect an emergency vehicles and traffic in the area. Update to follow. pic.twitter.com/13gYd1hHI9
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 10, 2019
The incident reportedly occurred at 787 Seventh Avenue, and police advised the public to “avoid the area of West 51st and 7th Ave due to an ongoing police investigation.” The area is close to Times Square and Central Park.
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The New York Fire Department tweeted Monday afternoon that the incident was a crash landing.
The type of helicopter that was involved is not immediately clear. NBC News correspondent Tom Winter reported that reported that it could be a “helicopter or small plane.”
787 7th ave, #midtown NYC. We’re 1 block south. 20 mins ago there was a loud sound like a too-low #helicopter & I looked up and saw sheet of flame on roof and then smoke. News reports saying helicopter/small plane crash onto roof which would be consistent with what I heard/saw. pic.twitter.com/swY3ksLskH
— Lance Koonce (@LHKoonce) June 10, 2019
CBS New York reported around 2:25 p.m. ET that one fatality is being reported. The Associated Press reported that according to the Fire Department, the pilot was killed in the crash.
Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters live on the scene that ” preliminary information” indicated that it was a “helicopter that made a forced landing, an emergency landing or landed on the roof of the building for one reason or another.”
Cuomo added that a fire caused the helicopter to do an “emergency or hard landing.”
“People who were in the building said that they felt the building shake,” he said, adding that fire department “believes that the fire is under control.” The New York Police Department confirmed that the fire was under control.
“There may have been casualties involved for the people inside the helicopter,” he said.
“Right now we believe the fire is under control,” he said. “We don’t know what caused the helicopter to land on the building. … The building has been evacuated.”
Videos and photos shared on social media show smoke coming from a high-rise building and people being evacuated from the building.
Visibility in the skies is reportedly very poor in New York City on Monday afternoon, at just over a mile with light rains, some winds and cloudy skies. Commercial airports in the region like JFK and LaGuardia are experiencing delays up to an hour or hour and a half due to weather, CNN reports.
It’s unclear if the entirety of the helicopter remains atop the building, or if there is a helicopter landing pad on the building.
