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 Sikorsky S-61s crash, Pan Am / Metlife building - Manhattan, New York
N 40° 45.231 W 073° 58.583
18T E 586407 N 4511936
A helicopter crashed on the roof of the Pam Am building on May 17, 1977. The turning blades sliced into several spectators who were waiting to board the aircraft. 5 passengers were killed, 8 were injured.
Waymark Code: WMCW1R
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 10/17/2011
Views: 34
"May 16, 1977 - A New York Airways helicopter idling at the helipad on the MetLife Building - then the PanAm Building - toppled over and its rotor blade sheared off. The blade killed four people on the roof and then fell over the edge and down 59 stories and a block over to Madison Avenue where it killed a pedestrian." From ( visit link) More info at Airliners.net: ( visit link) quote:
Article Courtesy of The Washington Post
May 17, 1977
NEW YORK, May 16--A New York Airways helicopter suddenly toppled over on the roof of the Pan American Building today, cutting down waiting passengers with its whirring rotors, and sending twisted wreckage plunging into rush-hour crowds 59 stories below. At least five persons were killed.
"They were chopped up. Legs, heads--it was messy," said John McAllister of the fire department's rescue squad 1. "From what we gather, the landing gear collapsed and it tipped over."
The helicopter pad had been closed nine years for fear of an accident, and because of operating losses and complaints of noise. It reopened in February. The flight today was ferrying passengers from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
A woman was killed instantly by a chunk of the falling debris, and at least eight others were injured in the hail of twisted metal.
Three others on the roof were killed by the helicopter's blades when the craft suddenly "lurched and then rolled right over on its side" without warning on the roof of the landing area high above the streets of midtown Manhattan, and a fifth person--a man--later died of his injuries at Bellevue Hospital.
On of the rotor blades flung from the roof arched through an office window on the 36th floor of the Pan Am building. No on was injured.
Washington Post staff writer William Claiborne reported that more than an hour after the accident, the rooftop still showed some signs of the carnage, with dismembered remains still lying on the tarmac and deep chunks of concrete flooring gouged by the pinwheeling rotor blade.
The Rev. Alfred Thompson, New York fire department chaplain, who administered last rites to the victims, said, "Bodies were strewn under the entire blade area. They were badly dismembered. I have been in this job a long time and I've seen most of the air crashes in the city. It's always difficult to see. You hope these people didn't have time to reflect on what was happening."
Mayor Abraham D. Beame said in a news conference at the heliport check-in lounge that the city will revoke New York Airways' permit immediately until the Federal Aviation Administration completes its investigation of the cause. Police Commissioner Michael Codd called the accident "freakish" and said he did not know the cause, although the landing support was suspected.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending investigators immediately.
Minutes before the 5:45 p.m. accident, the aircraft had landed on the roof and discharged passengers from Kennedy. Baggage was being unloaded from the 30-passenger craft in preparation for a return flight to Kennedy when the blades went wild as the craft turned on its right side.
The Sikorsky helicopter was described as similar to the type which has been used for some years without mishap by the White House. New York Airways uses them on from 30-35 flights a day from the Pan American pad.
Ambulances from all over the city converged on the area to take away the dead and injured. Within minutes of the accident, an attendant wheeled out two signs on the ground floor level of the building. "Helicopter not operating," the signs said.
Web Address for Related Web Sites: [Web Link]
Date of Crash: 05/17/1977
Aircraft Model: Sikorsky S-61s
Military or Civilian: Civilian
Cause of Crash:
The helicopter toppled over and its rotor blade sheared off.
Tail Number: Not listed
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