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UPDATED: NYC High-Rise Hit by Plane or Helicopter

NEW YORK (CNN) — Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor were killed Wednesday when the 34-year-old ballplayer’s plane crashed into a high-rise apartment building in New York, city and baseball team officials said……

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Small Aircraft Hits Building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Police Say

NEW YORK (AP) — A small plane crashed into a high-rise on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, police said Wednesday. There was no immediate word on any deaths or injuries.

A column of gray smoke rose over the city, and raging flames could be seen in four windows on two upper floors.

CNN: PHOTO

A small aircraft has crashed into a high-rise residential building at 72nd Street and York in Manhattan, police said. Police are en route to the site, said to be at 525 E. 72nd Street. Flames and smoke could be seen pouring from the high rise apartment as fire engines raced to the scene.

Fighter aircraft are being put in the air over several U.S. cities as a precautionary measure, NORAD tells CNN.



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25 Responses to “UPDATED: NYC High-Rise Hit by Plane or Helicopter”

  1. C Stanley says:

    Prayers for all who are involved in the incident…

  2. friend of bill says:

    Agreed – prayers are in order. But was it necessary – other than to spook us and remind us of the war on “terruh” – for NORAD to scramble fighter planes, after they had said that this was an ACCIDENT?

  3. C Stanley says:

    friend of bill:
    I think it’s premature to say for certain that it was an accident; that is the indication so far but I don’t think it’s unreasonable for NORAD to err on the side of caution.

  4. Lynx says:

    I agree with C. Stanley. It could be an accident but on the other hand I’m surprised ANY aircraft is allowed into the airspace above Manhattan, so I’m a little surprised about an aircraft being there at all, let alone crashing into a building.

    Here’s hoping it is just an accident and that the human death or injuries are minimal, but I think taking cautionary steps is good.

    Friend of bill, if they didn’t take cautionary steps, and it turned out to be another multiple attack, you would scream yourself blue with rage (with very good reason) if the administration didn’t react to the first plane.

  5. friend of bill says:

    I am basing it on the reports from NORAD and the FBI – prior to sending out the fighter planes – that it was an accident.

    I will also say this – and I am not doing so to cause controversy, but because this is what I believe – if this had happened anywhere else but New York City, and it has happened many many times before, it would get about 20 seconds of coverage. No wall to wall CNN, and certainly no scrambling.

  6. Kevin H says:

    friend of bill:

    I will also say this – and I am not doing so to cause controversy, but because this is what I believe – if this had happened anywhere else but New York City, and it has happened many many times before, it would get about 20 seconds of coverage. No wall to wall CNN, and certainly no scrambling.

    I think your right, but I don’t think that it is a political tactic. Its just that NYC is still a sore spot for this country, and probably will be for the rest of my lifetime.

  7. I think I just heard that it was a plane from a former player of the Yankees? I did not hear well enough. Can any one confirm this?

  8. Davebo says:

    It was a current yankee player.

    NEW YORK — A small plane piloted by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle crashed into a 50-story condominium tower Wednesday on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, killing at least four people, authorities said.

    Lidle died in the crash.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2621860

  9. Tom in Texas says:

    I am astonished that the FAA will allow any shmuck with a license 7 months old to fly over Manhattan. How shortsighted can we be?

  10. Davebo says:

    That’s a good question Tom.

  11. CaseyL says:

    What was his state of mind? It can’t have been good, considering what’s been going on lately with the team. Was he drunk? Depressed?

    Small planes are death traps waiting to be sprung, for anyone idiot enough to be flying incapacitated. (Or beyond their training and experience, like JFK Jr flying into a storm.)

  12. Davebo says:

    What was his state of mind?

    He was probably terrified at the prospect of Speaker Pelosi.

  13. Tommy says:

    Truthers at places like the Democratic Underground are now claiming that this was Karl Rove’s October Surprise. It is 10/11. They are claiming that this is to remind people of 9/11.

  14. AustinRoth says:

    His ‘state of mind’ was that he had a fuel problem, and had radioed in a mayday.

  15. Tommy says:

    Now we are really getting crazy.

  16. interested says:

    I didn’t see anything about a fuel problem, most of the items I see are weather issues.

    Dislike the morons who post stuff like that link Tommy, heck other places called it a twin engine, anyway

    He was flying VFR – reported ceiling at 1,800 feet, min altitude there is 1,100 feet – he probably didn’t have his IFR rating. I’m sure it was pilot error, it happens, I’ve seen it happen to some outstanding pilots before. A few of my friends died due to pilot error.

    Tom in Texas: There are no regulations stating someone has to have x number of hours rated in the aircraft, or x number of hours on the license to begin with. The hour requirements do come into effect when you are going for different ratings – but mostly the hours limit how much a commercial pilot can be on duty/flight hours per day/week/month/year. Once you have a license – you have the license – not unlike when you got a drivers license.

  17. Elrod says:

    What an utterly bizarre and tragic story. I remember when Cory Lidle pitched for the Mets. He was sent to Oakland in a trade that brought Kenny Rogers to the Mets. Lidle left the A’s and went to the Phillies. This year he was traded with Abreu to the Yankees. It’s not common that I read a news story with utter shock. This was one of those.

  18. AustinRoth says:

    interested – from CNN “There was a mayday from the pilot involving a problem with fuel, government sources close to the investigation told CNN.”

  19. C.Prez says:

    Oh god I agree with Tommy twice in one day. The world is going to end soon now heheh. I SWEAR people are reading into that too much. Good link, and scary at the same time.

  20. interested says:

    Gottchya AR – surprised the other links I found didn’t report it too.

  21. Tommy says:

    C. Prez

    Oh god I agree with Tommy twice in one day.

    Don’t make it habit. ;-)

    (Though, in spite of what you might think, I’m really not a bad guy, you know?)

  22. Yeah Lidle… unbelievable. I did not hear it well enough when I posted the question. Unbelievable.

  23. Pyst says:

    What I can’t understand is if they had a fuel problem and were apparently losing alititude quickly, why not ditch in the river right next to the area they crashed in?

    That’s why I think it might have been a control surface problem, or a fire in the engine.

  24. C.Prez says:

    Tommy,

    Next beer’s on me!!! Here here!!! :)

  25. interested says:

    According to a TIME article

    Though initial reports indicated that the plane issued a distress call, in a late-night press conference Deborah Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board did not report such a call.

    Although here too it conflicts with other reports on a 1100 foot min altitude.

    with hundreds of airliners and business jet flights going in and out of John. F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark International and Teterboro airports, small planes are required to fly below 1,100 feet

    and

    One report said the visibility at the time of the crash was not good, since the heavy cloud layer sat at about 2,000 feet. That meant Lidle’s plane had to stay within a relatively narrow range of movement — within the width of the East River, not too high and certainly not too low. All while Lidle and his instructor were apparently trying to peer through the clouds to see the sights of New York before they headed on their cross-country trip to California. If not exactly a recipe for trouble, there wasn’t much of a safety cushion.

    I still suspect the NTSB will come back with pilot error – probably weather added to their stress level.

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