Boston helipad plan might be grounded for now

State and city officials have for a little more than a year now been scrambling to find a suitable site for a public-access helipad in downtown Boston, the first in the area in 15-plus years.

The landing was seen as quasi-essential for General Electric’s new Fort Point headquarters, which is supposed to open in 2018.

Now GE says it doesn’t need a helipad. The company has discovered the nearby international airport instead. Per Jon Chesto in the Globe: “GE executives say they have found that Logan Airport, a short drive away from GE’s Fort Point headquarters through the Ted Williams tunnel, has worked better than they initially expected in terms of getting in and out by helicopter through Logan’s private aviation facility.”

That doesn’t mean officials are done hunting for a helipad spot (it seems they had settled on a Southie pier late last year). John Barros, Boston’s economic development czar, says that other companies have expressed interest in such a pad.

Stay tuned. Without GE behind the search, this thing may be permanently grounded.

• Never mind about that helipad, GE tells Boston [Globe]
• Boston helipad will most likely land on South Boston pier [Curbed Boston]
• Newer Boston addresses people will hail 50 years from now [Curbed Boston]