The East 34th Street Heliport opened on the site of the original East 34th Street Ferry Landing in 1972, providing charter, commuter, and sightseeing flights. It served as a replacement for the heliport atop the Pan Am Building, which closed in 1968. (That heliport reopened for three months in 1977 before a helicopter crash killed five people.[2][3])
1987 photo of a New York Helicopter Sikorsky S-58 at 34th Street, part of the company's service to JFK airport.
After several residential high rises were built in the neighborhood in the 1980s, the city was pressured into reducing helicopter traffic in the area. Sightseeing flights were banned from the heliport in 1997.[4] In 1998, flights were limited to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.[5] Weekend flights were banned altogether later in the year.[6]
Since this is a heliport and not an airport, there are no instrument procedures for this facility. Boats in the nearby East River require pilots to be careful when approaching the heliport's landing pad.
In 2010, 72% of the flights were air taxi, 18% general aviation, 9% commuters, and less than 1% military.[1] In 2017, 96% were air taxi, 3% transient general aviation, and 2% military.[1]
On May 23, 1974, David Frank Kamaiko, a 21-year-old man from Greenwich Village claiming to be a member of the Jewish Defense League, hijacked a helicopter from the East 34th Street Heliport and demanded $2 million in ransom. After landing on top of the Pan Am Building, the pilot tried to escape and Kamaiko shot him in the arm. The other hostage inside the helicopter disarmed the hijacker, and police took him into custody.[9]
On February 27, 1975, a Bell 47G-2A on a non-commercial flight from Garden City crashed into a fence while attempting to land at the 34th Street Heliport in gusty wind conditions. The pilot survived but was severely burned in the resulting fire.[10]
On April 26, 1985, the engine on an Aérospatiale SA 360 Dauphin failed shortly after takeoff from the East 34th Street Heliport, sending the helicopter into the East River. Five passengers and two crewmembers were rescued but one passenger trapped inside the submerged craft was killed.[11]
On May 2, 1988, a Bell 206-B on a sightseeing flight around Manhattan crashed into the East River near Long Island City while preparing to land at the East 34th Street Heliport, killing one person and injuring four others.[12]
On February 10, 1990, a strong gust of wind sent a Bell 206-L on a sightseeing flight crashing into the East River shortly after taking off from the East 34th Street Heliport. A 14-year-old boy was unconscious when pulled from the wreckage and later died. The pilot and three other passengers (including the boy's father and two French tourists) were injured but survived the crash.[13][14]
On June 17, 2005, a Sikorsky S-76C carrying six corporate executives from MBNA returning to Delaware after a business meeting in New York City crashed into the East River less than one minute after taking off from the East 34th Street Heliport. All eight people aboard survived the crash.[15]
On October 4, 2011, a Bell 206 crashed into the East River killing one person after taking off from the East 34th Street Heliport. The pilot and three other passengers on board were rescued.[16] One week after the accident, a second passenger died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.[17] The National Transportation Safety Board report on the crash, released on December 20, 2012, said the cause was excess weight in the helicopter; the aircraft is rated to carry 3,200 pounds (1,451 kg), but it was estimated to have weighed between 3,228 pounds (1,464 kg) and 3,461 pounds (1,570 kg) at takeoff.[18]
On June 10, 2019, an AgustaWestland AW109 Power en route to Linden, New Jersey, crashed into the AXA Equitable Center, Seventh Avenue, which sparked a fire on the top of the building, killing the pilot Tim McCormack.[19]
