Manhattan helicopter crash pilot breached certification: FAA

[nitpicker]

https://www.dw.com/en/manhattan-helicopter-crash-pilot-breached-certification-faa/a-49143120

Manhattan helicopter crash pilot breached certification: FAA

Date 11.06.2019

Tim McCormack, the 58-year-old pilot who died in Monday's helicopter crash in New York City, was not certified to fly in limited visibility, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Tuesday. McCormack's Agusta A109E helicopter crashed into the 229-meter (750-foot) tall AXA Equitable building in midtown Manhattan on Monday, sparking a fire and forcing office workers to evacuate. McCormack was the only person in the helicopter and was the only one killed in the crash.

McCormack was not certified to use instruments to help fly through cloudy or bad weather, the FAA said. According to his certification, he was only certified to fly according to what is known as visual flight rules, which require generally good weather and clear conditions. Those rules require at least 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) of visibility and that the sky is clear of clouds for daytime flights. The visibility at the time of the crash was about 2 kilometers, with low clouds blanketing the sky.
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Federal investigators have yet to determine why McCormack was flying over one of the United States' most densely populated areas. The crash has renewed calls to restrict airspace over the city.
(snip)

[Dennis Donovan]

1. In the day of GPS, this is puzzling...

If he looked at the GPS (assuming he had one in the aircraft) he would've seen himself over midtown and should've climbed to over 1500 ft. Also, since it was IFR (which he wasn't rated for), how did he get a clearance in one of the busiest air corridors in the world?

[3Hotdogs]

2. Why allow ANY flights over ANY city?

Oh, I forgot. Profits.