Chopper crash renews 9/11 worry about rogue aircraft in NYC
Published 4:33 pm Wednesday, June 12, 2019
- Law enforcement personnel work on the roof of the AXA Equitable building, center, Tuesday, June 11, 2019 in New York. A helicopter crashed Monday on the roof of the rain-shrouded Manhattan skyscraper, killing the pilot, Tim McCormack, of Clinton Corners, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
NEW YORK (AP) — This week’s accidental crash of a helicopter on the roof of a Manhattan skyscraper has raised security concerns because of the ease with which the chopper ventured into one of the nation’s most tightly restricted airspaces.
Some of the questions being posed are the same ones that bedeviled authorities after 9/11 nearly two decades ago: Are they able to react quickly enough to a rogue aircraft? And is shooting one down really feasible over a densely populated city?
The answers from experts are not so reassuring.
Former Army Special Forces officer Steven Bucci says the post-9/11 system of no-fly zones that he helped design has proved very effective, but there is little to stop a helicopter pilot with bad intent from slamming into a Manhattan building.
