RLSH700

Small Aircraft Crashes Into New York City High-Rise Building

Wednesday, October 11, 2006 (Fox News)

NEW YORK — A small plane with Yankees pitcher Corey Lidle reportedly aboard crashed into a 50-story luxury high-rise building on Manhattan's Upper East Side Wednesday, igniting a raging fire, killing at least four people and initially trapping people on the floors above the point of impact.

New York Police Department officials and the New York City Medical Examiner said four were confirmed dead and there could be more fatalities. Nearby New York Presbyterian said they admitted 10 people with injuries — six of them firefighters. Officials there said one person was dead on arrival.

Federal Aviation Administration records show the plane was registered to New York Yankees pitcher Corey Lidle.

Port Authority officials said the plane took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey at 2:30 p.m. ET.

The plane hit the building, located at 524 East 72nd Street, 20 floors above space occupied by the Hospital for Special Surgery.

The New York Fire Department told FOX News that there were people trapped above the point of impact, but the NYPD later said that all occupants located above the fire-ravaged floors had been evacuated.

By 3:30 p.m. ET, the blaze was reported to have been extinguished.

FBI spokeswoman Christine Monaco said there was no indication the crash — which happened five years and one month after Sept. 11, 2001 — was a terrorist attack, but officials "have been sent to the scene as a routine."

"The initial indication is that there is a terrible accident," said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke. Fighter jets, however, were scrambled and were patrolling the skies above major cities as a precaution, according to Defense Department officials.

FAA spokesman Jim Peters said that all three New York City-area airports were operating normally, but LaGuardia International Airport later reported gate hold and taxi delays of between 31 and 45 minutes in length that were increasing.

LaGuardia arrival traffic had airborne delays of 15 minutes or less, according to the airport.

The crash set off a raging fire that sent a pillar of gray smoke over the city, police said. Witnesses reported seeing a gigantic fireball come out of the building, according to authorities.

Flames could be seen shooting from windows on two or three upper floors of the 50-story building, near the East River. Burning debris rained down onto the street below.

"There's huge pieces of debris falling," said one witness who refused to give her full name. "There's so much falling now, I've got to get away."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg went to the site, where parts of the fuselage were falling to the ground in the immediate aftermath of the crash.

There were dozens of firefighters, emergency workers and other first responders on the scene.

FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said that a small, fixed-wing aircraft was involved, but there was very little other information immediately available. A helicopter would be expected in that area of the city; no other aircraft should be around that part of Manhattan, according to the FAA.

"Everyone was running down the street, kids were screaming and crying," Rich Behar, a New York City resident and former Time magazine reporter, told FOX News. "There was a lot of horror and terror when it hit," Behar added, saying the whole ordeal reminded him of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The building is a 50-story condominium tower built in 1986 and located nearby Sotheby's Auction House. It has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million.

A spokesman for the National Transportation Security Board said that agency is organizing a team to send to New York to investigate the crash.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,219921,00.html

RLSH700

I didn't hear what model airplane this is other than a rumor about it having a fixed-wing and four passenger plane. They said the pitcher just started flying so I would assume it would be a small Cessna like a 172. They said that he looked like he was doing an acrobatic move before he hit the building.

I would say what happened was he probably either lost control or he had something like a heart attack. I'm not expert on planes but from my experience with my dad being a pilot I can tell you this much. You never, ever do any acrobatic moves in a high wing plane, let alone a plane not designed for acrobatic moves.

The Governor said there is NOTHING to suggest that this was a terrorist attack so don't worry about it. I just thought you guys would like to know. I'm going to say some prayers for those involved in this accident and I encourage others to do the same.

RLSH700

Okay I just heard that they sent a distress call before the crash. It sounds as though they had engine problems. That would explain the problem.

RLSH700

Alright a correction. A fixed wing must mean a low wing plane. It is a Cirrus SR20. Here is a picture of what they look like.

There is also a rumor that he had a passenger that might have been training him on the plane. I keep hearing them mention that the engine was sputtering. When you don't have an engine working while flying, it is hard to control them espically if the engine problems knocked out some of the electrical systems. Depending on degree of engine problems, that can happen. Without the instruments, flying a plane is like driving in the dark without headlights.

[IMG]local://upfiles/22/8045FC4AEE1D411DAFD08F52F8914024.jpg[/IMG]




For example, the person who owned a plane with my dad, had the engine blow a piston and he wasn't able to make it to an airport. Fortuneatly in that case he crash landed in a corn field and everyone was okay.

TeeWJay426

It's amazing how off-track initial news reports can get... 4 deaths confirmed? It was only Lidle and the other guy in the plane, who happened to be his flight instructor. That would indicate to me that there may have been a problem with the plane itself... the other guy was an expert pilot, and should have been able to avoid a high rise building. There wasn't any distress call made either.... unfortunately, the only two guys who can say for sure what happened can't talk anymore, so it will all be speculation as to what went wrong.

RLSH700

True it only turned out to be 2. However, I know I heard them say there was a distress call. It sounds like they had an engine failure or something. When the engine goes out, it can sometimes knock out the electrical system and it is very, very, very hard to fly without equipment. Without an engine, wind can take control of the plane which could have lead it towards the building. You're right that it will all be speculation about what went wrong.