One person died when a privately owned twin-engine Agusta A109E helicopter collided with a New York skyscraper on Monday, in wet and foggy conditions.
The pilot, identified by law enforcement as Tim McCormack, was the only person on board the aircraft at the time of the crash, said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“There was a helicopter that made a forced landing, emergency landing, or landed on the roof of the building for one reason or another,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at the scene.
“If you’re a New Yorker, you have a level of PTSD, right, from 9/11…so as soon as you hear an aircraft hit a building, I think my mind goes where every New Yorker’s mind goes.”
The aircraft, based in Linden, New Jersey (KLDJ), took off from the 34th Street heliport on Manhattan’s East side and crashed after an erratic 11 minute flight, captured by an amateur video.
The helicopter was normally used by real estate executive Daniele Bodini, who founded the American Continental Properties Group, and was formally ambassador of the Republic of San Marino to the United Nations.
Weather could have played a part in the crash, with both Newark and LaGuardia Airports having been in a ground stop due to visibility at the time the accident happened, according to the FAA.
McCormack had previous experience of having to execute an emergency landing, when a bird flew in to the Bell 407 helicopter he was piloting in 2014, breaking part of the windshield.
Speaking at the time, McCormack told WABC his 20 years of experience had helped him to safely make the emergency landing at the West 30th Street heliport in New York.
“Our family lost a great man today when my brother lost his life doing his job,” the McCormack family said in a statement provided to ABC News.
“Tim died when in my opinion he put other lives first over his by using his skill as a pilot to emergency land his helicopter on a roof of a building so that it didn’t impact anyone else’s life except his own. My brother was a true hero.”