FF's Family Grieves as NYC Chopper Crash Investigated

June 12, 2019
"He perished in his endeavors. … My brother was a hero," said the brother of longtime East Clinton firefighter Tim McCormack, who was piloting the helicopter.

NEW YORK—Investigators worked on Tuesday to unravel the events that led to a deadly helicopter crash atop a New York City skyscraper, hopeful that data from the chopper’s instruments would help clarify calls made by the doomed pilot before he crashed-landed.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators, on their first visit to the wreckage on the roof of 787 Seventh Ave., were focusing on why veteran pilot Tim McCormack chose the route he did in heavy rain and poor visibility on Monday, particularly since he was flying in restricted air space in Midtown Manhattan.

Before the crash, McCormack, 57, radioed the E. 34th Street heliport that he was having difficulty seeing where he was going and asked for help, according to sources. Heliport staff were trying to help him return to the heliport on the East River, where only hours before he had brought a passenger.

McCormack waited for two hours for the weather to clear after leaving real estate magnate Daniele Bodini at the E. 34th Street heliport at about 11:30 a.m. When he saw what he thought was a break in the dense fog, he took off.

He departed just after 1:30 p.m. to return the helicopter to the Linden, N.J., airport. The Agusta A109E appeared to have mechanical difficulty and he tried to land on the skyscraper’s roof. It crashed 11 minutes after leaving the heliport, a little more than a mile away.

RELATED:

A flight restriction has been in effect since President Donald Trump took office that bans aircraft from flying below 3,000 feet within a one-mile radius of Trump Tower, which is less than a half-mile from the crash site.

NTSB investigator Doug Brazy said the helicopter was not equipped with cockpit voice and data recorders, but some of the instruments had recording capability. He confirmed that McCormack tried to make radio calls before the crash.

Adding to the mystery, McCormack was not in communication with the LaGuardia Air Traffic Control tower, Brazy said. He should have gotten approval from the tower before flying over Midtown.

The city allows helicopters to take off and land from three heliports, one each on the East and West sides and in downtown Manhattan. All of the facilities border rivers.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the eight-passenger helicopter was “obliterated.” McCormack’s brother Michael told the New York Daily News he believes McCormack saved lives by landing on the roof. The pilot was the only person aboard.

“He perished in his endeavors. He had to know what he was doing. My brother was a hero,” Michael McCormack said Monday night.

Some debris fell into a courtyard but nobody else was hurt.

Brazy said Bodini told NTSB investigators that he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary on the flight to the E. 34th Street heliport.

Tim McCormack’s girlfriend, Dawn Curry Costello, declined to comment about the tragedy, but his mother, through tears, echoed Michael McCormack’s declaration, saying, “He was (a hero).”

McCormack was a former fire chief in upstate Clinton. With 15 years of experience flying helicopters and single-engine airplanes, he was certified as a flight instructor last year, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

The East Clinton Volunteer Fire Department posted on Facebook that McCormack’s “technical knowledge and ability to command an emergency were exceptional.” They flew the flat at half-staff on Tuesday.

Neighbors in Clinton Corners said McCormack was a thoughtful and generous man.

“A quiet guy, kept to himself,” said Charles Lauria, 72. “But if you were in need, he was there to help anybody.”

Neighbors said he grew up in a Clinton Corners house he shared with his parents. He had no children and was divorced.

———

©2019 New York Daily News

Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Voice Your Opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Firehouse, create an account today!