New York helicopter crash: Pilot dead as chopper comes down on 54-storey building

The wreckage of the downed helicopter.

A helicopter crashed onto the roof of a 54-storey building in midtown Manhattan, killing the pilot.

Numerous emergency responders are on the scene, which is roughly two blocks from Times Square.

The weather is not good in the area today with rain and fog.

Footage on social media shows the helicopter - which was privately owned - flying erratically before the crash.

The pilot died in the 'forced landing', officials have confirmed.

No additional injuries have been reported. 

The crash landing at the AXA Equitable Center on Seventh Avenue is thought to have happened shortly before 2pm local time.

According to the New York Post, there is no helicopter landing pad on the roof of the building 787 seventh Avenue.

Zach Escalante, a computer programmer who works on the third floor, told the newspaper: "We felt the building move."

There is no indication of terrorism. 

Shauna Farrell was in a meeting on the 36th floor when she felt the impact, which sent her and her colleagues running for the exits.  

She told ABC News: "We ran down. I think we were the first floor to evacuate, actually, because we felt it so quickly.

"There was already FDNY on the scene. We were kind of just running away from the building as quickly as we could."

Laura Esquival, a hostess at the Ruth's Chris Steak House across the street from the crash site, told CNBC: "I saw people running out. They were escorting everyone out."

New York City Fire Department trucks are seen outside 787 7th Avenue.

The fire on high-rise building's roof, stemming from the crash, is under control, New York governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters near the scene.

He said: “The preliminary information is that there was a helicopter that made a forced landing, an emergency landing or landed on the roof of the building for one reason or another.

"There was a fire that happened when the helicopter hit the roof.

"People who were in the building said they felt the building shake. The fire department believes the fire is under control.

"There may have been casualties involved in people in the helicopter,” Gov Cuomo said.

“We don’t know what caused the helicopter to land on top of the building but people in the building itself, nobody has been hurt.”

He added: “If you’re a New Yorker you have a level of PTSD from 9/11 and I remember that morning all too well. So as soon as you hear an aircraft hit a building, I think my mind goes where every New Yorker’s mind goes."

A New York Fire Department source told DailyMail.com: "The chopper is obliterated. I have just seen the roof. There is heavy fire damage and wreckage from the aircraft is strewn across it." 

"I believe the dead victim is still inside the cockpit," the source added.

There does not appear to have been any significant damage to the building's structure.   

A statement from the FAA said: "We are gathering information about an accident involving a helicopter that crashed into a building in Midtown Manhattan."

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation, according to Hogan Gidley, Deputy Assistant to the President.

The city has issued an emergency notification saying to expect road closures and the presence of emergency personnel at Seventh Avenue and West 51st Street.

The cause of the crash isn't known.

The high-rise was built in 1986, reports NBC.