Has anyone ever taken a helicopter ride over Manhattan and would they recommend it? Myself and my boyfriend and going to NY at the end of the year and it's his birthday soon so I was going to surprise him with a pre-booked chopper ride. It's called The Big Apple with Liberty Helicopters and lasts 12-15 minutes. Any opinions?

eiregal,
I took my daughter Honore' and having never riden in a helecopter before found it a lot of fun. I have to admit that scenery (for me) was secondary to the experience! He will love it!

Great thanks! I'll go ahead and book it then!

Have never done it. Would never do it. There have been too many crashes - and I have no desire to try to survive in the east river in the middle of the winter.

Hi, just resurrecting this thread to see if there are any updates re the safety aspect. We are thinking of it, but a little nervous. nytraveler, I would appreciate your input if you happen to read this. thanks, Cathie

I am not aware of any recent accidents - but that doesn't make it necessarily any safer. Heliports remain next to the river - so any accidents don't occur over land. When there are so many other options for high level views (Top of the Rock, ESB) I'm not sure why one would want to ascend in one just for a few minute view of limited parts of the city.

There were two helicopter crashes in 2009, but only one resulted in fatalities. I'm not aware of any other crashes since then. However, I, too, would never do this. The airspace above Manhattan is just too crowded. And I did a helicopter trip once (many years ago) in Branson and never wish to do it again.

I cannot be an expert witness to the safety factor involved, but I have nothing but fond memories of my two helicopter flights, one of which was over Manhattan 20-30 years ago. To see the city at night from a helicopter on high was/is indeed an exciting and never-to-be forgotten memory. The other, also many years ago, was a unique experience at the Sikorsky plant in Stratford, CT, where I was invited to fly in the test run of a military helicopter. Now, that was a unique experience.

I cannot imagine what all you could see from the airspace over Manhattan, except Central Park. All of the buildings really would prevent you from seeing the ground. The Statue of Liberty too, but I agree the airspace is so crowded, and there have been copter crashes into the rivers over the years. I would pass on this one.

Thanks for the feedback. I think we'll pass. We already have plans for the Top of the Rock and maybe the ESB (if the queues aren't too awful). thanks again.

Sadly, another helicopter crashed into the East River this afternoon. One fatality and several injuries have been reported. Please choose to visit the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building instead.

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stori...-in-east-river

There is a reason that the heliports are sited right on the rivers - so if a copter goes down at least it's into the water and not over land - crashing into civilians and buildins.

In this case they don;t know the cause - it was apparently out of control immediately after take-off and fell right into the river. There was help on the spot almost immediately and those that got out were rescued and are in stable condition. But one woman was trapped inside and drowned before anyone could get down to the copter on the river bottom.

Agree to do top of the rock or ESB instead. Copters just are not that safe.

Sadly, the woman who died was the the one who booked the heli-tour to celebrate her 40th birthday.

"There is a reason that the heliports are sited right on the rivers - so if a copter goes down at least it's into the water and not over land - crashing into civilians and buildins. "

Have anything to back that theory up or are you just being completely presumptuous?

According to news reports (which we all know are not always right)the victims are all in critical condition.

Recently had family in from Belgium and they wanted to do the copter ride but I told them a trip to the Top of the Rock was much more fun and a hell of a lot cheaper. Glad I made that decision.

According to the NY Times this morning, one of the passengers, the stepfather of the woman who died, was treated at the hospital and released. The two other passengers were in critical, but stable, condition. No mention of the pilot, but he appears to be okay.

There have been repeated calls by officials to stop all non-essential air traffic over Manhattan. Although this crash was not due to a collision, the skies over Manhattan are busy enough without adding to it with sightseeing flights. And they don't have a great safety record, so I for one agree that they should be stopped.

No I am not presuming anything. They used to land copters on the top of the Pan Am building - when that's what they called the one on top of Grand Central. One day one of them missed the landing and fell off the side of the building onto the street and pedestrians. At that time the city banned copters landing in the midldle of the city and put the heliports next to each river - to prevent the same sort of disaster happening again.

Look it up.