Airport manager Paul Dudley told the New York Times that pilot Tim McCormack worked for the helicopter's owner, Daniele Bodini, who he said commuted between the city and upstate New York.
Officials said on Monday McCormack had taken off from the 34th Street heliport 11 minutes before he crashed with the helicopter onto top of the 750-foot tall building, setting its roof ablaze.
They said
the pilot had been waiting out the bad weather but ultimately decided to fly, and may have been heading to its home airport, which is southeast of the city, taking a route around the southern tip of Manhattan where Battery Park City is located before veering toward midtown somewhere between 40th and 49th streets.
Helicopter crashes on to roof of a skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan sparking mass evacuation | Daily Mail Online