Not by design from the FED, but yes, it's by design.
Helicopter money has many other desirable characteristic, like a much short lag to get into the real economy (so the government can adjust it with an easier to control bullwhip effect) and its wide distribution meaning that it distorts less one market or another.
There are very few reasons to explain why a government would make money creating so unconstrained that banks actually do not create as much as they can, and allow interest rates to go negative, instead of going for the helicopters.
