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NYC24 — Why do the tourists pay so much money to take a five-minute helicopter flight around Manhattan? Wiig — Because this is the nicest city in the world to be seen in the air. Only natural landscapes, such as the Grand Canyon, the Niagara Falls, or the Australian coast, are as exciting as the NYC skyline. San Francisco, for instance, is a very beautiful town with the Golden Gate and the sea, but the city itself cannot be compared in terms of visual landmarks to New York. NYC24 — But why are the helicopter tours so expensive? Your cheapest tour costs $99, but for $35 one can take a 3-hour bus tour in New York. Wiig — It's really expensive, but it is worth it. The rides are short, but a lot of people come to New York having a very little time to spend here. To get a good overview of New York City there is nothing like getting a helicopter. You see the exact location of the important sights and we really do a lot of sightseeing in a shorter amount of time. And this is the only way to really appreciate the tallness and the size of NYC. By the way, the helicopter tours are expensive because of the costs: fuel, landing fees, hangars. Our two helicopters, Long Ranger models, cost about $1.5 million each. (See more information about costs at side bar) NYC24 — It's been three years since the flight tours have been banned from Manhattan. Do you think that rides only over the Hudson and East rivers are still interesting? Wiig — I do, because even when we didn't need to fly along the rivers, we did most of our flights there. To get the Manhattan greatness requires some distance. NYC24 — Today is windy and cloudy. What are your safe rules in terms of weather conditions? Wiig — To be honest, the safety it's not really an issue as far as winds are concerned, because the helicopter and the pilot can fly in much worse conditions than the passengers would tolerate. Today is fine; the wind is about 25 miles per hour. We probably would not fly if it became much more than 35 or 40 miles per hour. So it's more a question of convenience for the passengers. They are doing this for fun and they don't want to get sick and throw-up. NYC24 — Do people feel comfortable before flying? Wiig — A lot of them are nervous, because most have not been in a helicopter, so they really don't know what to expect. But I would say that 99.9% of the people when they come back are absolutely thrilled. NYC24 — Which kind of safe procedures do you take? Wiig — First, our two helicopters and our pilots are in very good conditions. We are strict about security. We have been doing sightseeing for seven years without any accident or violation. Besides, we require that our passengers have life vests during the flight, since we are over the water. Before the flight we give them a complete safety briefing with videotape explaining the things to do in the case of an emergency. They are the same rules that you have in the regular commercial flights.
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ilot
Torger Wiig works as director of sight seeing for the Helicopter
Flight Service, a company
that carries about 180 tourists during sunny days. 
