Aircraft crashes into Manhattan building

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

Aircraft crashes into Manhattan building 3 minutes ago


NEW YORK - A small aircraft crashed into a high-rise on the Upper East Side, setting off a fire and startling New Yorkers, police said. There were conflicting reports on whether the aircraft was a small plane or a helicopter.

Fire Department spokeswoman Emily Rahimi said an aircraft struck struck the 20th floor of a building on East 72nd Street. Witnesses said the crash caused a loud noise, and burning and falling debris was seen. Flames were seen shooting out of the windows. Video from the scene showed at least three apartments in the high rise fully engulfed in flames.

"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."

Whether anyone was injured was not known, and it was unclear if the crash was an act of terrorism.

The address of the building is 524 E. 72nd Street — 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.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

I just heard this in the car. The plane supposedly hit around the 40th floor.

According to police there are two dead.

FBI insists this was NOT a terrorist threat.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

As logic would dictate, that address is all the way over by the East River. The neighborhood is residential.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

My daughter called me from her school in Manhattan, in an absolute panic. She was in class, and heard about the crash. She wasn't sure what was happening........So sad, New Yorkers will never be the same again.

[Guest Close Quarterbore]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/11/plane.crash/index.html

Aircraft crashes into Manhattan high-rise
POSTED: 3:51 p.m. EDT, October 11, 2006
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- A small airplane crashed into a 50-story residential building on Manhattan's East Side on Wednesday, killing at least one person, the New York City Fire Department said.

Flames were shooting out from several windows midway up the luxury highrise in a residential neighborhood.

The Federal Aviation Administration described the plane as a "general aviation" fixed-wing aircraft flying under visual flight rules, meaning a pilot was flying by visual landmarks.

The plane hit the Belaire Condominiums, built in 1989 at 524 E. 72nd Street near the East River. More than 150 firefighters are on scene of a four-alarm fire in the building.

There was no word on casualties. NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) said it had put fighter aircraft into the air over numerous U.S. cities, though they said they had no reason to believe the event in New York was anything more than an accident, sources told CNN's Barbara Starr. It did the same thing after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"I have no idea where this thing (the plane) came from," said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs New York area airports.

"We haven't heard from any of our facilities that anything's missing." New York City government source told CNN there are "no indications of terrorism."

The FAA placed a one-mile flight restriction around the site of the crash, but New York area airports were not affected.

It's unclear if the crash was a result of terrorism. A senior U.S. official in Washington said the administration was waiting for more information.

"The fire was raging out of two windows," witness Sarah Steiner told CNN. "It looks like the plane just flew into someone's living room."

Steiner said fires were burning on the ground. "It looks like the plane just flew into someone's living room there." (Watch the orange flames ravage the apartment -- 1:50)

"It looks as if the aircraft didn't go into the building but fell down," she said. "It may be part of the debris burning on the ground."

Video from the scene shows at least three apartments in the high-rise fully engulfed in flames.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Plane belonged to NY Yankee pictcher Cory Lidel. He was on the plane.

[ahzroe Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ahzroe]

Oh my..!

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Plane belonged to NY Yankee pictcher Cory Lidel. He was on the plane.

So then it was Suicide Bomber. Ok, I know that was bad, and in poor taste, I can't help myself.

Wait a minute, Frank, were you joking?

[Chap7 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Chap7]

Frank was not joking. According to a number of different reports, NY Yankee pitcher Cory Liddle was piloting the aircraft and was killed in the crash along with three others who were in the building at the time. It's all over the news now.

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

NEW YORK - A small plane carrying New York Yankee Cory Lidle slammed into a 50-story skyscraper Wednesday, apparently killing the pitcher and a second person in a crash that rained flaming debris onto the sidewalks and briefly raised fears of another terrorist attack.

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A law enforcement official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lidle — an avid pilot who got his flying license during last year's offseason — was aboard the single-engine aircraft when it slammed into the 20th floor of the high-rise on Manhattan's Upper East Side. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg said both people aboard were killed.

The official said Lidle's passport was found at the crash scene.



Federal Aviation Administration records showed the single-engine plane was registered to the athlete, who had repeatedly assured reporters in recent months that flying was safe and that the Yankees — who lost catcher Thurman Munson in the 1979 crash of a plane he was piloting — had no reason to worry.

"The flying?" Lidle told The Philadelphia Inquirer this summer. "I'm not worried about it. I'm safe up there. I feel very comfortable with my abilities flying an airplane."

The crash came just four days after the Yankees' humiliating elimination from the playoffs. In recent days, Lidle had taken abuse from fans on sports talk radio for saying the team was unprepared.

The law enforcement official said the plane had issued a distress call before the crash. The official said it was unknown whether Lidle was at the controls.

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

I am so sorry to here this. You guys on the east cost have been through enough.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

My friend's husband was in the building, fortunately on a lower floor and evacuated quickly and safely. Also fortunately, he was able to call her on his cell phone to tell her he was ok (on 9/11 you may recall all the cell frequencies were jammed).

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

My DH told me that his instructor was with him. Is that true? So many rumors but at least no terrorist attack. Very sad for his family and others who died too because of the accident.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Last I heard, the only fatalities were the two in the plane.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Last I heard, the only fatalities were the two in the plane.

That is what they are saying. He was with his instructer.