Plane Crash into Building in NY

[Jamie]

CNN is reporting that a plane just crashed into a residential building in NY. Let's hope this was an accident. If it's not we can probably kiss our flying freedoms goodbye.

http://www.cnn.com/

[hecilopter]

if it was a plane or a helicopter. It was reported that there is a heliport nearby.

[hecilopter]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A small aircraft crashed into a building on Manhattan's Upper East Side on Wednesday, but a U.S. official said there was no evidence it was terrorism-related.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was not clear whether the craft was a helicopter or a small plane, but the New York Fire Department identified it as a helicopter.
The crash occurred at East 72nd St. and York Avenue, near the East River.

"I have no reason to believe at this point that the crash in New York City is terrorism-related," said a U.S. official who declined to be identified.



The images of fire and smoke pouring out of the windows of a high rise building evoked images of the hijack plane attacks of September 11, 2001.

CNN, citing a police source, said the craft hit a 20-story residential building.

Several helicopters have crashed over the years into or near the rivers flanking Manhattan.

[Jamie]

Just heard on the radio some FAA person saying it's a twin engine airplane.

[DR JK]

I'm watching live video from WABC in New York. Media coverage is starting to get brutal...total lack of knowledge. i.e. what is a fixed wing aircraft, why would a plane be flying between the buildings etc.

Just praying there are few casualties from this event.

[the_other_dougreeves]

Who knows. Maybe it was a twin-engine helicopter?

However, being NYC, a whirly-bird makes sense - lots of them in use and flying around The City.

A bad day. RIP.

[TSwezey]

They are saying that a Yankees pitcher was the owner of the plane and the pilot.

[William Slaughter]

www.aero-news.net reports the plane as being Cirrus SR-20 N929CD, the pilot Cory Lidle, apparently a Yankees pitcher.

[the_other_dougreeves]

This just in from CNN:

First responders to the New York plane crash say an emergency call was made from the plane indicating a possible fuel problem.

New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre told CNN that the plane that was a Cirrus SR-20 registered to team pitcher Cory Lidle.

A search of registry.faa.gov for owners named "Lidle" returned nothing. However, a quick Goodle turned up that Lidle does own a SR20 and is a PP.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/08/sp...erland&emc=rss

A search of the FAA airmen database indicates that a Corey Lidle was issued a PP on 2/9/06. Searching the aircraft registration databse for the address given on the PP cert pulled up Cirrus SR20 N929CD, with the registration pending.

A sad day.

[ptrotter]

This is definately a sad event, but I think some good might come out of it as well. I shows that small planes are no real danger to cities like NY. The damage was no worse than many car crashes. There was minimal damage to the building, and the building was reoccupied within 3 hours of the accident. Also, no one in the building or on the ground was seriously hurt. Much worse has happened when a car loses control and slams into the front of a building.

Since the owner of the plane, and presumably the pilot, was a well known person around NY (NY Yankees pitcher), it will be difficult for the press to condemn the flight without blaming that person, which could invoke a reaction from Yankees fans. Hopefully this will cause the press to be a little less reactive.

I was impressed by NYC Mayor Bloomberg's press conference. He did not over-react at all and did not make any crazy statements about limiting flying around NY. When asked if he felt that NYC's security was compromised, he basically said that he did not believe so.

Any loss of life through flying is a sad thing, but let us hope that this incident will show that flying is no more dangerous than driving.