Helicopters over Manhattan?
Should helicopters be banned from flying directly over Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn?
Yesterday a helicopter crash into the roof of a 54-story skyscraper in midtown. The pilot who died, was flying a private helicopter at high speed through low clouds over Midtown after taking off from the 34th Street airstrip. The crash was the second in less than a month, and last year an open-door FlyNYON helicopter crashed into the East River, killing five passengers. In 2009 a helicopter taking off from the same west side heliport crashed into a small plane traveling down the Hudson, killing nine.
Helicopter services like FlyNYON offer customers "to customize your flight path and cover all of Manhattan" with destinations including the World Trade Center, Times Square, and the United Nations. Since FlyNYON takes off from New Jersey, they are regulated by the FAA and NYC is unable to restrict their flight path.
Last week Uber announced they would start offering helicopter flights from Lower Manhattan to JFK, an 8-minute flight that will cost $200 a person. Currently, Blade already offers this service, in addition to destinations like the Hamptons, which cost around $800 a person and takes 45 mins.