NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday joined the call to ban all commercial helicopter traffic from Manhattan following the fatal helicopter crash of a pilot fire chief.
Monday’s helicopter crash on the roof of a Seventh Avenue skyscraper was the second time in one month that a helicopter went down in Manhattan.
Pilot Tim McCormack, 58, died in the crash and almost immediately, city lawmakers renewed safety concerns over helicopter flights in New York.
On his WNYC broadcast, Mayor de Blasio joined City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Rep. Carolyn Maloney in advocating for a ban on all non-essential helicopter flights.
“I think we need a full on ban on any helicopters going over Manhattan itself,” the mayor said. “Obviously, exemptions should be made for emergency responds, first responders, uniform services, obviously news cameras— also news helicopters should be exempted.”
He added that any type of purely civilian use of helicopters ought to be banned from flying over Manhattan and should be restricted to operating over water.
The mayor did acknowledge that the city would need help from the federal government to approve the ban.
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