Flying into Manhattan, heading northwest, shows how dense the city is. PHOTO: Julian Olivas/Air-to-Ground. PILOT:Jerry Maurice

enior executives at The Dow Jones Company often need to be in two places at once. Their aviation department almost makes that possible.

"We use it for the expediency of executives essentially operating two offices," says Sandy Kaplan, chief pilot and manager of the aviation department at Dow Jones. "It only takes 18 minutes to fly from Wall Street to Princeton. Compare that with an hour and a half car ride." Also conveniently and centrally located between three major airports, the flight between the Wall Street Heliport and Laguardia, JFK, and Newark airports is seven minutes each way, he said.

Kaplan has been flying for Dow Jones for 25 years, and is one of the company's three full-time pilots. The aircraft they fly, the Sikorsky S-76A, seats six passengers and two pilots. The cabin is equipped with a small cooler with snacks and refreshments as well as a telephone that can be used to call the office.

Former military pilot Eric Hansen, sits in the Dow Jones office at the Wall Street Heliport, watching the weather conditions worsen and the light rain get heavier. Hansen says that pilots are trained to fly in much worse conditions than they actually do. If flying under Visual Flight Regulations (VFR), there must be an 800-foot ceiling of visibility. In other words, if it's a foggy or cloudy day, the clouds can be no lower than 800 feet high, which is about half way up the Twin Towers. In addition to the ceiling, forward visibility must be about two miles. Hansen attributes the weather as one of the biggest problems for inexperienced pilots.

Kaplan agrees. That's why he has what he calls a "back-door" policy. "I'll never take off with only one option," he says.

Preparation, scheduling, and flexibility are the most important factors when flying helicopters over New York City. Even though Hansen is a very experienced military pilot, he says that flying over the city brings its own stressfulness to flying. Like every other pilot that NYC24 has spoken to, Hansen cites the density and air traffic as major factors that set New York apart from other cities, but the view makes it all worthwhile. "I just love flying into the city, especially at night," Hansen says. "It's amazing."