HELICOPTER CRASHES ON ROOF OF NYC SKYSCRAPER, KILLING PILOT

A helicopter crashed on the roof of a rain-shrouded midtown Manhattan skyscraper Monday, killing the pilot and briefly triggering memories of 9/11, after an erratic trip across some of the nation's most restricted airspace. Authorities said they did not suspect terrorism. The crash near Times Square and Trump Tower shook the 750-foot (229-meter) AXA Equitable building, sparked a fire, and forced office workers to flee on elevators and down stairs, witnesses and officials said. The pilot was the only person aboard, and there were no other reports of injuries, authorities said. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, or why the Agusta A109E was flying in a driving downpour with low cloud cover and in the tightly controlled airspace of midtown Manhattan.