The Death and Life of Helicopter Commuting in NYC

Fifty years ago, a helicopter company called New York Airways whisked passengers from the rooftop of the iconic Pan Am Building in midtown Manhattan to any city airport in just 10 minutes. A fatal accident in 1977 brought that era to an end.
40 years later, E-VTOL technology could open a new chapter in short-distance airborne commuting.
Video by Raymond Schillinger
Camera: Brian Schildhorn
Animation / Graphics: Sylvia Yang and Chiachi Lee
Sound Design: Andrew Hylnsky
#transportation #history #NYC
News Footage provided by NBCUniversal Archives. All Rights Reserved.
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[@Supadubya]

5 deaths with 500,000 passengers transported a year? That's a horrifying accodent- but statistically, it's safer than ground transit...

[@jaymassengill3340]

Not specifically mentioned in this video, there were two much worse crashes in LA over the span of just 3 months in 1968 that killed a total of 44 people. Flight 417 and Flight 841 on Los Angeles Airways. I remember the news reporting on the crash in NYC vividly, but not the earlier ones in LA. It's actually surprising, despite the statistics about flight safety, that flights continued in the crowded center of NYC after the LA crashes where they actually fell out of the sky but didn't hurt anyone on the ground.

[@Angry.General1461]

Supadubya There more people that died in commercial airline crashes than helicopter crashes. Why don't they ground the Airlines?

[@scythelord]

Because the number of Airline flights is greater than the number of helicopter flights by several orders of magnitude. Helicopters are far more likely to crash and cause fatalities.

[@tvoommen4688]

It was an accident that was waiting to happen ; ( "I really did become scared that something was going to happen ") finally when it did happen, they didn't have to think twice. So much futuristic was the idea for those days.

[@Patchuchan]

It's probably safer than walking the streets below.

[@asterisk4163]

The incident 40 years ago with uncontrolled rotor blades killed 5 people brought an end to the industry, and now the come back company is named "blade", irony.

[@saltysoysauce954]

Barely but ok

[@roe2012]

Thanksfully the helicopter not wearing black sunglasses, black leather jacket, and act like dumbass everywhere. *if you know what i mean

[@kevindavis8762]

Not to be outdone, there is a startup airplane manufacturer named "Boom." Seriously, who thinks of these terrible company names???

[@TFQ1]

Poor choice of words. Even without the incident happening. People are always skeptical about a heli rotor blade slicing you up.

[@premiereproforbeginners5084]

For those wondering, $5 in the 50s is about 50 bucks in today's money.

[@luka2595]

Premiere Pro for Beginners still not much for rlaying from pan amm to jfk

[@japzone]

Premiere Pro for Beginners, that's actually pretty cheap. Too bad we won't be seeing prices like that for a while.

[@jeoboden]

Buy bitcoin edit: if you bought because of this comment i hope you sold after you doubled your money because I will not refund your 50% losses. Just buy more now and wait a year. This is definitely financial advice

[@slimpickens9135]

Premiere Pro for Beginners wrong

[@watertriton]

It's actually $100

[@nathangek]

"Probably the most challenging thing I've ever done... except for getting shot in Vietnam. haha" what a badass haha

[@pricelessppp]

Agreed.

[@ameyab900]

Sitting here in Vietnam made me chuckle how much these people now welcome tourists from all around

[@terrariabookshhelf6317]

PNathan mym grandfather actually got shot down in vietnam

[@justicewarrior9187]

Was gonna write the same comment!

[@MikeM4729]

Shot at, not ‘shot’

[@sabo7433]

That girl on the street was some 1970's Final Destination shit. How fucking random.

[@quasarproductions2690]

Couldn't have worded that any better! Death by a rotor blade projectile while walking to work... Her number came up outta nowhere!

[@alivewithpassion]

Wow! That's crazy! Sad, She would've been 69 years old this year.

[@EagleLogic]

What if someone was in the office where the one projectile smashed into? Your office out of the thousands in the building.

[@brickman409]

Well, if you think about it it's not really that random. I mean there's millions of people walking on the streets of New York City at any given time, so having a projectile fly down to the ground is bound to hit someone.

[@EagleLogic]

For sure. But out of the "millions" walking around it hit and killed one person. So that one person being you is the randomness here.

[@TheJdinner]

in the 1960s you could get anywhere in nyc by helicopter, in the 1970s you could fly across the atlantic in 3 1/2 hours. its amazing how far backwards we have gone

[@Fallen_Flames]

It's mostly due to safety reasons

[@MrSvenovitch]

we're going back past the middle ages, tell your (grand)kids. or just be smart and don't have them just to suffer the decline already happening

[@kaberus7565]

Communication technology advanced dramatically and transportation technology stagnated. Those two things are related.

[@xexecuterxx]

how did they get over the atlantic like that?

[@Aramil4]

xx executr xx the concorde

[@hugopulido9446]

I'm still waiting for a drone from amazon to deliver my packages

[@NathanaelGreer]

Some ass clown in brown shorts and a 50's styled truck is gonna drop your box..

[@jeffmatthews9125]

You better move next door to Amazon then.

[@PATRICKSTAR-ic7wk]

I am waiting for a drone to deliver my new drone to deliver my new pizza

[@manictiger]

I want a drone that I chain down, spank and fuck for less than a grand while still looking like a 10 grand hooker.

[@itsmetheherpes1750]

these fuckers have been holding technology back for ages. they shut it down because of the noise? really? lol, new york rush hour streets make more noise than helicopter. and that "accident" was staged, they did it on purpose so to stop air traffic. the purpose for keeping tech back is a very dark one.

[@ShonTolliverMusic]

Thank you Bloomberg, for taking video content seriously. Unlike your lazy compatriots at INC. you all seem to take pride in quality video content with interesting topics and great execution. You have a new fan.

[@business]

Thank *you* for watching!

[@DraftyCrevice]

Bro. Tolliver did you not see the part where it became a commercial for Blade?

[@warnock881]

This is just an ad for Blade. Don't thank them for this crap

[@VideoAmericanStyle]

How do you figure it's an ad? They spent like 5 minutes talking about a horrific accident, then mention that even a modern company like Blade faces big obstacles. If so, that's one lousy ad...

[@maverickwatchreviews]

Bro. Tolliver...Could you be anymore of a suck up, sycophant? Libtards really make me laugh with their media worship...lol.

[@ellenpitel1577]

My dad started flying NY Airways helicopters in 1953 and flew for 24 years until the aircraft he was flying lost a rotor box and crashed in 1977 which ended all operations. He suffered life threatening injuries but survived although 3 passengers did not. However his years of experience saved all the others because with no steering he still managed to manuver the crash landing away from the busy NJ Turnpike. He lived til 90 years of age.

[@chrisflanagan9292]

I worked for a helicopter company in Vancouver in 2006 and learned that helicopter was actually repaired and put back in service for decades. It served in the offshore, as a rescue helicopter for the Namibian Coast Guard, and made its way back to Vancouver as a VIP helicopter. The wreck was bought by Court Helicopters of South Africa, and they had to remove it piece by piece in the service elevator - because helicopter flights were temporarily banned in Manhattan.

[@trespire]

Landing operations on the PanAm building needs to be revisited. Rotary wing technology and safety has advanced a lot since the 60's.

[@danopticon]

In the VERY early 1970s, my mom and I landed by jet in JFK, and had either missed our connecting flight to our final destination due to delay, or else it was unexpectedly canceled - I can’t remember which, I was very very young and barely verbal - so my grandmom, who’d flown the first leg of that flight with us for fun, and who was a pretty seasoned traveler and handy in these situations, quickly booked my mom and I a different flight home… but from out of LaGuardia, across the city, and leaving in under an hour! So how did we get from JFK to LaGuardia? (Or maybe it was vice-versa, I again don’t remember super clearly.) BY GIANT HELICOPTER!! And this video talks a lot about how people under the flight path of those helicopters found them noisy, but you know what the video neglects to mention? HOW CRAZY NOISY IT WAS TO RIDE INSIDE OF ONE OF THOSE THINGS!! Again, I was really young at the time, so I don’t remember everything today (nor did I know then what a treat I was getting, riding in a helicopter), but here’s what burned itself deeply into my memory: 1) the seats were a dark blue sort of cloth, it was rough and had burls but was kinda nice, 2) it was surprisingly crowded, but as comfy as one of the smaller DC aircraft, and 3) once the rotors roared into action, it was so suddenly and OVERWHELMINGLY noisy, I cried literally the whole length of the ride: the thing shook and tilted like a seesaw (to top things off, I think we were in the tail-end of a hurricane, no kidding), and I could barely hear myself shriek over the rotors, my little self could hardly stand it… but I think it was fortunately less than a 15-minute ride, so the other poor passengers didn’t have to suffer my wailing for too long. But yeah, those things were NOISY. Is all.

[@danielbronstein4592]

Mean while every weekend I hear Michael Bloomberg flying his helicopter over my house to play golf at Deepdale

[@gi295]

It was 5 people why is it such a big deal more than 5 people die every week in NYC due to cars and that isn't a big deal

[@japzone]

It's sad but true. Whenever I see things shut down like this because of one accident it always boggles my mind. It's like how people are terrified of sharks attacks, but in reality the chances of that happening are close to zero. Airlines have accidents too and but you don't see air travel being banned. They figure out what went wrong and come up with rules and counter measures. That's what you do since there's risk in everything. Even trains can crash.

[@kalebbruwer]

Gautam Iyer It proved that there are safety issues. The company should've responded with upgrading their safety features out of free will if they wanted public trust back.

[@subswithnovideos-dg8cp]

Gautam Iyer Cars don't fly in the air and their nescessary.

[@michaeloneil433]

Gautam Iyer The main factor is the frequency of the accidents. Millions of people travel by car everyday which is bound to lead to fatalities but when it comes to helis that number is significantly smaller and when added with a multiple fatality...it can lead to the calapse of a business.

[@hedgehog3180]

It's more the fact that now we know it can go wrong. This time the heli broke on the landing pad but what if it crashed into a building?

[@jamsb100]

As a younger guy, my family and I did that trip four times. It was Great! I’ll never forget flying right through the City. And check out the view of the Chrysler Building from the Pan Am roof!

[@Sodiumreactor]

9 days after this accident 585 people were killed when two jumbo jets collided. Funny they scrapped the whole industry for 5 deaths yet jumbo jets are still flying today.

[@baron8107]

Sodiumreactor Not to mention all the shit Jets deposit into rainclouds.

[@akashjaiswal3659]

Sodiumreactor Actually its 11 days after this accident.

[@essel23fly]

So? What’s your point, you couldn’t pay me to get on a helicopter. At least with a plane you glide to the scene of the crash.

[@hakes98]

essel23fly actually, helicopters don't fall either, they can "glide" aswell, it's just called autorotating when helicopters do it.

[@CGoody564]

Sodiumreactor the whole industry? Lol. You mean a small part of the industry. You talk as if helicopters were exclusive to new york. The difference is you can still get around New York without a helicopter. You aren't getting across the Atlantic within hours without a plane.

[@alfreddonate2981]

Back in 1966 my aunt work for high-end lawyer she flew in from JFK and we met her there when we flew that helicopter ride on top of the Pan Am building into New York City it was very exciting I still remember to this day

[@ronvavra]

The blade that came through the office window below went into the office of a coworker of mine. I had been in that office with him moments before. It was in the ad agency Foote Cone and Belding.

[@business]

That's amazing. What was that day like? Had you ever been up to the rooftop helipad?

[@ronvavra]

@@business I was a young ad exec and had on a number of occasions flown from the helipad to the airport. Talk about convenient. The day of the crash, a number of us from the agency were scheduled to play softball in Central Park right after work. I went to the person's office where the blade would come in to see if he wanted to share a cab. He wasn't ready so I left. Fortunately, he didn't stay very long and joined us for our game. As I remember, he was on his way to Central Park when the blade tore into his office.

[@business]

Wow. Thanks for sharing your story!

[@pquodling]

I worked with the Former Computer Giant, Digital Equipment, and was in southern NH in the late 80's through early 90s. The probably had around 60 different office complexes and manufacturing plants through central Mass, and Southern NH. They had a fleet of at least half a dozen Jetrangers, that had overlapping round-robin loops that they covered. An hour on the freeway could be reduced to 10 minutes in the air. And it was particularly great if one had to connect to a flight at Boston Airport, which was on one of the loops. The company also had private business jets running to Colorado, Atlanta and somewhere in Canada as I recall. I Vaguely recall the cost centre billback for a chopper ride being around $10-15.

[@joeyk9578]

In the Disney animated film The Rescuers, Bianca & Bernard fly to Devil's Bayou from the top of the Pan Am Building. Instead of a helicopter, which are for people, they ride an albatross named Orville.

[@business]

If you're interested in how New York's skyscrapers got their shape, check out our series Then This Happened: kzbin.info/www/bejne/onjVoHyohtKqr9k

[@iamanevutable981]

To imagine that another crash happened just yesterday in New York...

[@Crazy_Dashcam_Videos]

I just booked a flight with FLYNYON, hopefully I don't drown.

[@bl0b3rt]

"That was probably the hardest thing I'd ever done... except for getting shot at in Vietnam!" Gotta love that quote

[@johno9507]

1:49 That's a very rare shot of a early 747-100 with P&W JT9's with HOT & cold stream thrust reversers. The hot section thrust reversers were later locked out as they were problematic.

[@visionist7]

Are the hot reversers the cones at the back of the engine? Never knew they existed on turbofans

[@SpectreMk2]

All the hype about "VTOL" reminds me the hope of some about the tilt-rotor for commercial application 20 years ago.

[@Daniel-Strain]

They forgot to mention the 1978 helicopter accident where one almost fell off the roof of the Daily Planet building while transporting a reporter to the airport.

[@AbelMcTalisker]

That one was in Metropolis though, not NYC.

[@astebbin]

"A new era of airborne commuting could be just around the corner" It's been 7 years...

[@braddyboy82]

This was a very interesting video about something I didn't know anything about. Thank you for posting this.

[@justsnappy]

That EVTOL doesn't look like it'd survive an engine failure. Can't auto rotate, can establish best glide...Cirrus parachute, perhaps?

[@Paelorian]

Looks like such a design could potentially glide to safety. Also it has enough blades that it could continue controlled flying if one fails.

[@ShimmeringSword]

With 4 or 6 rotors you'd need a full electrical system failure to crash, losing an engine wouldn't be a big deal.

[@d4nyboy249]

Like a Battery catching​ fire?

[@u1zha]

That concept probably has two redundant sets of batteries and flight controllers, each controlling 4 rotors that can independently bring it to safety.

[@Trickynico55]

I could watch videos like that all day.

[@WilkerLMHS]

Very interesting and quick detailed history. I really love the theme though, that vintage style of music and framing that fits the actual time frame!

[@alarik95]

Helicopter travel is common in Miami and Miami Beach... Sitting on the beach you can see a helicopter passing by every 10-15 minutes

[@GrijzePilion]

I understand why blimp travel failed after the Hindenburg crash, but this?

[@jesusgonzalez6715]

GrijzePilion blimps and zeppelins are fundamentally different things

[@tigershark2328]

Well, they do the same thing, they just have different, internals...

[@GrijzePilion]

I obviously meant airship/zeppelin in this instance. I use them exchangeably, even though that's objectively wrong.

[@seigeengine]

The problem with airships is that they're just really bad forms of transport. They're slow, they have enormous drag, they're extremely vulnerable to wind, they're absolutely enormous/expensive with very little lift capacity... They existed in relatively small number at a time before jet aircraft took over aviation. An eight hour flight today would have been a 50-60 hour flight on a zeppelin.

[@charonsferryold]

The Germans were actually the last to give up zeppelins. The British gave them up after the R101 crashed in 1930. The French began winding down their efforts when the Dixmude blew up in 1923. And America gave up zeppelins in 1935 following the sinking of the Macon.

[@woodycoat]

Such a shame. Helicopters are awesome!

[@johnscanlan6337]

I saw this accident happen from the living room window of my family's apartment on the Upper East Side! I had just gotten home from school that day when it happened.

[@visionist7]

What did you see?

[@brandonbyers9021]

No mention of Sao Paulo. This city in Brazil is known for traffic congestion, so time-cramped business people commute via helicopter all the time. Over 500 flights per day to nearly 200 helipads around the city. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZDCqpZ4oNx2hKM Maybe NYC and other US cities haven't warmed to helicopter commuting, but in Sao Paulo it's been a way of life - for those who can afford it - for decades.

[@NonSequitur404]

Brandon Byers thank you for mentioning this. Was about to make the same post myself.

[@clevergirl4ever]

I was staying at a hotel in the financial district of Sao Paulo. I remember waking up to the sound of a helicopter practically right outside my window thinking WTH? It was just someone commuting to work. For some, it's not only faster but much safer as well.

[@Drskopf]

You took the words out of my mouth, thanks for sharing this info, because I was about to comment the Brazilian helicopter taxiways experience

[@Derpster2493]

I enjoyed the jazzy undertones.

[@THELIFEOFPRICE]

Awesome video

[@MannoulaZ]

Yes

[@losttownstreet3409]

it's a long way to make it possible. At an airshow in 2011 got an glimps on the projects. It's so expensive in development and you need many heliports, ... An electric helicopter still need 30 minutes of spare flight time: 10 minute flight from one heliport to another still need an endurance of 40 minutes for safty and you don't want to declare an emerancy to often (under 30 minutes flight time endurance) so you'll need 1h of electric endurance. Small ultralight helicopters are a good way ... but you'll still need registred heliports for comercial service with you don't get so easy ... in a city.

[@jesterd14]

Helicopters require almost constant maintenance because the vibrations cause so much wear and tear. I used to be an aircrewman in the Navy and we were always opening access panels and checking for loose connections. Also, we used to wash down the bird constantly to try and prevent corrosion. And I mean it it was out on the deck all night or day it got washed before we put it in the hangar. When you have the unlimited resources of a helicopter squadron and enough people to do that it's no big deal, no one gets paid overtime.

[@tessarix]

Loves the 1960s tune playing in the background at the first. lol

[@bape890]

The 29 year old lady who was in the wrong place at the wrong time in the accident would have lived to be 70 this year if it wasn't for the rogue falling blade. You never know when you could go. RIP.

[@thefrub]

$5 in 1953 is $47.22 in 2018. Still worth it to skip New York airport commutes, oh hell yes.

[@visionist7]

Definitely if you're visiting the city for the first time or visit once every few years.

[@nghtwtchmn129]

The notion of a helicopter airline was the most striking thing about Coogan's Bluff for me.

[@MegaFPVFlyer]

8:14 Quiet? Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the video, but... the loudest part of a conventional helicopter is the tail rotor. On that aircraft, you have what are essentially 8 tail rotors producing significantly more thrust at much higher RPM. Each one will be nearly as loud as a helicopter by itself.

[@HailAnts]

Ah, I don’t see how the tail rotor could make more noise than the main rotor. Plus the turbine engine is extremely loud as well...

[@mattolmstead6150]

Yeah no... I work on aircraft and I was right next to a jet ranger starting up and that thing was way louder than most aircraft.

[@TheOnlyMasterChef]

Most of the noise produced by rotary wing aircraft is actually the rotors themselves turning through the air, and interacting with air coming off the tail rotor for aircraft in that configuration. Tail rotor noise is actually quieter decibel-wise but we pick up on it, especially when close, because it is higher pitched. Engine noise is a distant third issue, mostly because modern helicopter design puts the engine up top and most of the noise from the engine and transmission is directed skyward. Anyone that has heard a sizeable drone going knows they are far from "quiet", it's just a different kind of noise.

[@wacz016]

Yeah, I have been close to big maintenance drones that lift heavy equipment, and they are really loud. Not the same sound as ordinary helicopters, but still loud. For me personally, the "buzzing" sound that drones make is much more irritating than the sound from a helicopter.

[@RidgeR5]

Cool video. I'd known about the Pan Am crash, but never knew the cause of it until now.

[@jaytrock3217]

Thanks for the video. I always wonder why NYC didn't have any roof top heliports like LA. I was assuming it was something like that. I am surprised that new sky scrappers are not required to have a emergency pad for rescue in case of fire.

[@teacherdude]

":VTOL technology is almost here" A phrase that has been in use since the 60s

[@boballende]

Good job. Nice video.

[@txrockerusa1st862]

I flew on THE BY ferry copter in 69 with my family never forgot flying over the water

[@carlweston4808]

I remember that crash and the gruesome newspaper photos in the ny daily news.

[@TheWilderGirl]

Italian businessman Marchionne used to commute frow Switzerland to Turin on a private helicopter.

[@oneaburns]

Really impressed with both the quality of the video and the information contained in it. Subscribed.

[@MJDHX]

Bring back the Zeppelin!

[@skyscall]

@Viscous Force Zeppelins as in the aircraft; a rigid, multi-celled steerable aerostatic airship. Not some old band

[@granddukeofmecklenburg]

@Viscous Force Bring back zeppelins and Led Zeppelin

[@mattheweades]

@@skyscall whoosh

[@stuartlee6622]

Bring back cow farts!

[@helms6561]

...Zeppeline is still around

[@Howrider65]

SFO was the best my friend and I few them for the fun of it they had a tour ticket you just stayed on the S61 and made two or 3 stops but the view was great.. Never had a problem it was fun.. This is what teens did in the 70s lol..

[@SpaceMetal3]

How did I know this existed and was so popular before??

[@jody5661]

The hospital in my town lands on the roof, but only like 5-6 story’s up

[@goldfishking5465]

5 dollars is now 42 dollars in 2019 not bad for trip on helicopter

[@CalvinHikes]

Drones: The future is now, old man.

[@bighoss8793]

$5.00 sounds way to cheap, even for that time period. No wonder they didn't spend enough money on maintenance and then there was an accident.

[@PixlRainbow]

It's the equivalent of $42 today accounting for inflation.

[@McHeisenburger]

I hope they bring this type of transport back.

[@kinai01]

I am more with Musk on the underground 3d tunnels, i don't want to walk-out on the stree and the Sykes to be as busy as the roads not a big fan

[@dropndeuces82]

Ianis Bîrliba I completely agree

[@bw4500]

thirded - the 3d tunnel system is a much better idea in sao paolo helicopter transport is commonplace and ground travel is nigh impossible focussing investment on a 3d road system would be better for everyone

[@PeterParker-rj7wn]

Cities are crowded, of course we got to use air transportation, what else ? But nobody wants a piece of metal relying on a propeller above its head ! We could stay human versus crawl like rats & elevate cable cars instead...

[@homefront3162]

Ianis Bîrliba Musk is a cockhole

[@kinai01]

Homefront right, so everybody has been saying yet, spaceX has successfully relaunched and landed a used Rocket, and Tesla is reached its goal of lunching Model3.

[@DukeofHesse-he7bu]

I worked at an ad agency in the Pan Am building when this happened. I had used the helicopter to fly to JFK or LaGuardia several times. When this happened, I had just visited the office of the person whose office the rotor blade flew into only minutes earlier. Fortunately, my co-worker whose office it was had also left the office with me. We had left to go play softball in Central Park and in an era with no cell phones, didn't learn about the accident until later that night.

[@business]

Wow - that must have been a chilling feeling when you finally heard the news. Thanks for sharing!

[@s0nnyburnett]

Take a ride in a giant toy helicopter that looks like it should have a camera on it instead of a person? No thanks. Let's see that thing auto rotate to the ground in an emergency.

[@theAppleWizz]

nope they do not auto rotate at all that why in one of the example it was like a glider

[@bigcamel]

Rip Kobe

[@keithdantonio680]

good story!! I enjoyed it

[@thelessimportantajmichel287]

Quieter air transport can’t come quickly enough. Here in Chelsea we have at least one tourist helicopter trawling back and forth at any given moment during the day.

[@jordonsmith3132]

Another heli crashed in New York today

[@mikebtrfld1705]

My dad took a helicopter from Lafayette, California into San Francisco more than 50 years ago.

[@BoarVessel-BCEtruscanCer-xy7et]

How did the rotor end up in the pan am building? I don't understand how it went off the roof and curved round into the building?

[@Bubbles99718]

0.5 Warp Boomerang.

[@ryanmacleod3969]

Never mind

[@ianh1504]

0.5 Warp you ever seen videos of rotors failing? They go evvvverywhere

[@TheTech660]

Been Scrolling through these comments to find anyone who is confused like me in regards to the rotor flying into the window. How is that possible?

[@timothymasters8497]

Drop a piece of paper. Does it fall straight down? Nope, it loops and swirls all over the place. A helicopter blade is a piece of aerodynamic material, and will have a similarly unpredictable falling trajectory.

[@beyourself7428]

A Rolex Submariner back in the 50s cost ~$150, an Hermes Birkin ~$1000 (yeah handbags cost so much more than Swiss watches back then), a car (mostly US cars, import cars were very rare back then) around $1500 - $3000. So $5 in 50s can be anywhere between $80 - $250 for today.

[@Inkling777]

Marvelous documentary. While the idea of helicopters for fast and short trips in big cities is appealing, it faces two hitches the documentary fails to explore. 1. What's the point? TSA security takes up so much time, saving a few minutes getting to JFK means little. 2. Weather. Cars, trains, and buses can cope with all but the most extreme weather conditions. Not so planes and particularly helicopters. That's made worse when those helicopters are landing on waterfront docks or the tops of tall buildings.

[@Adrian_Nel]

This is what I've said about attempts to resurrect supersonic flight - the actual flying time of even a really long haul flight is not the monster, the airport queuing time is too big a part of the equation...and much the same might be true of the much hyped hyperloop travel - security measures will have to be similar to those we deal with at airports.

[@PERK-30]

Tsa takes like an hour. The longest flights are 11 hours long. Supersonic flight would obviously cut down on this.

[@dxelson]

Chicken Nug Master price

[@nntflow7058]

1. Not when you're rich and you have to stuck in Traffic for 2 hours and 2 hours of TSA waiting line. 2. I'm pretty sure helicopters and even v-tol could take up bad weather.

[@japzone]

Michael W. Perry, 1. There are ways to speed up TSA for frequent travelers, especially businessmen. Primary customer for these services. So hopping a helicopter and practically skipping straight to the plane would be very appealing for them. 2. The weather isn't bad all the time. Just because they can't always fly doesn't mean it isn't useful when they can.

[@ronaldckrausejr7762]

Adapt military cargo plane technology to commercial aircraft. Give them a chute and a cue when their stop is coming up. They get to be an Airborne Ranger

[@maximme]

the cause was metal fatigue,,,,then they should ban ALL helicopters. NOT roof top landings. what is the link to roof top landings ?

[@mattbucchiotti3123]

No link... do you think more harm would be caused having an accident in a field somewhere or a building in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world?

[@Whatdafuk123]

Everyone complaining about how they stopped the helicopters but now theyre banning hotdogs in NY, go figure

[@laniik3296]

Meat is murder

[@bctdmarketingdesign675]

Lol I like how this turned into a blade infomercial. Had me going.

[@Apollo416]

I'm gonna start a helicopter service. All I need is someone to give me a small investment of 1 million dollars.

[@americansniper1641]

Apollo you don't have nearly enough to run a helicopter

[@Apollo416]

American Sniper That's why I need to find investors

[@Sequaloid]

Apollo Lol good luck with that not gonna happen

[@valerie80yearsago90]

That's not even enough to buy a helicopter lol.

[@kingmike40]

A friend of mine bought a Robinson R44 for about 400,000 and that was 15 years ago. You might need a bigger check book.

[@zamiadams4343]

Michael Findlay the director was decapitated in the Pan-AM crash. He was a pioneer in 3-D filmmaking.

[@isaacbakan1295]

Honestly I think they should bring it back. I mean, the incident was sad but way more people have died in things we do all the time. In fact. It might mean less people driving which would actually reduce deaths overall.

[@gnagyusa]

Yeah. It's depressing. You spend so much time and money to get a helicopter license, only to find out that you can't land anywhere, except airports... Which totally defeats the purpose. You could just fly airplanes...

[@Bubbles99718]

lnpilot Perhaps read a pamphlet before going thru all the licensing troubles?

[@conorcorrigan765]

8:20 That ain't no rotorcraft, that's a VSTOL-capable fixed-wing...

[@rsrt6910]

Electrical drive technology needs to address the FAA requirement that the pilot be capable of safely landing a rotorcraft in the event of engine failure and loss of all electrical power.

[@visionist7]

Just throw some cash at the FAA and that need goes away #Boeing

[@heinzbreuer2674]

Googens bluf eine schöne Aufnahme auf New York.ach so ein toller Bericht. Mehr bitte 😍🎖

[@stickystick105]

Real cool, was just on the metlife building roof today, the little heliport structure is till there.

[@thedave7760]

LOL. "6 Years from now" Yeah still waiting for my e-vtol to take me to the Hamptons.

[@Hackzoid]

idk man, a helicopter ride above NY at night is so bad ass, dream material

[@MrRandy494]

A well tempered mini documentary. There are alot of gems within. Chopper crashes..... blimps... air balloon disaster!. There's alot about the future of the drone in this video. And flying cars therefore driverless cars.. The lawyers speak volumes. Try Space travel. Interesting article.

[@joshiemike6690]

the panam building is where avengers tower is

[@NonSequitur404]

The tone established at the start of this video is that "if it doesn't happen in New York it doesn't happen anywhere", but that is false. The Brazilian megacity of São Paulo has had prolific rooftop to rooftop private helicopter transport for 40+ years. And it's still going strong.

[@poitor5915]

love that shot with the top of the rock in background ☝🏻

[@1LEgGOdt]

And you forgot to mention that the Pan-Am Helicopter landing pad was also featured in Disney’s Rescuers

[@MichaelBCooper]

Only here cause I see Casey Neistat doing this all the time. Not like I could afford it.

[@fitnesspoint2006]

Mbc ‍ neistat has got the ugliest mug on utube no amounts of his millions can fix the face.

[@bobbg9041]

Can you imagine a ultra light flying into a big city land on a roof. Go down and elevator to a parking garage so the next one can land. Meanwhile wile your at work, you craft get repaired and fueled ready for the flight home.

[@ryanm.191]

No security No scanners No tsa The glorious days before multiculturalism

[@首相]

Ryan M. Agreed. Those were the good old days...

[@followthegrow108]

Agreed. We need to get the Muslims out of this country.

[@ryanm.191]

Sky Barren I’m British, I have it worse than you yanks

[@ryanm.191]

drmnys you are dumb as fuck are t you. You have no clue about why they are actually migrating

[@MythicalRedFox]

+Ryan M.: TSA doesn't actually do anything, it's all security theater. We had the defense and intelligence infrastructure to stop 9/11 before it happened, our intelligence agencies just failed to do so. You're just so butthurt about TSA lines that you're using it to justify your xenophobia. That's really pathetic lmao. Also, I'd love to see you actually rebut drmmys' comment instead of just saying "you don't know and I do." Well then explain it then, genius. We could give you a lecture on US and British foreign policy in the Middle East spanning decades that explains the rise of terrorism, but nah, let me hear what your brilliant theory is when you can't even spell "aren't."

[@Mrjmaxted0291]

Airlifts around new york city for $5? How far we've fallen.

[@DerDudelino]

I'd love to have that opportunity. Weird to shut down a program because of a fairly minor incident. Pretty sure more than 5 people die in front of the metro every year.

[@liamh1621]

$5 in 1953 is $47 today so I'd hardly say "as little as $5"

[@AndrewPolich]

Had no idea about this option. I'd love to use it one day 😃

[@lukethompson5558]

The fact that it was on the roof didn’t contribute to the accident at all! If the passengers were boarding the helicopter at a cornfield in Iowa, the exact same accident would have still happened, and still killed everyone trying to board.

[@AmalDevYT]

What a Co incidence this Got Recommended on 16 May 2019