Pilot Died as Helicopter Crash-Landed on the Roof of a Skyscraper

In an accident reminiscence of September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, a helicopter crash-landed on the roof of a 54-floor skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan.

The pilot, Tim McCormack, who was the only person in the helicopter died on the spot. Responding to the crash, a security officer issued immediate evacuation order to all the occupants of the building before the alarms go off.

The order lead to mass movement from the top of the building down, causing traffic congestion on the stairwell as everyone wanted to get out at the same time.

According to an eyewitness in the building, Nathan Sutton,

“It took a half hour to get from the 29th floor down to the ground floor. There were just too many people, it was crowded, and everybody was trying to get off on all the floors at the same time. You could feel the building shake, and you could actually hear the alarms.”

According to reports, the pilot took off around 1:32 p.m. from the heliport at 34th Street and crashed just 11 minutes later.

Investigations by the NYPE revealed that the pilot had earlier waited out the weather but decided to fly for reasons best known to him.

In less than five minutes, firefighters were on the scene to put out the alarm fire on top of the building as well as from the burning helicopter.

A volunteer firefighter, McCormack was a volunteer worker with the East Clinton Volunteer Fire Department for the past 15 years and the head chief in the department for 10 years before his death.

 

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