Wednesday - October 11, 2006

EVERYBODY PANIC!

Two Killed in High-Rise Plane Crash
_{Wednesday, 11 Oct 2006, 3:01 PM CDT}

A small plane crashed into a 50-story condominium tower Wednesday on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, killing at least two people and touching off a raging fire that rained flaming debris on the streets below, police said.

The FBI and the Homeland Security Department said there was no evidence it was a terrorist attack. “The initial indication is that there is a terrible accident,” Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said. Nevertheless, the crash at the Belaire overlooking the East River struck fear in a city devastated by the attacks of Sept. 11 five years ago.

Sirens echoed across the neighborhood as emergency workers and ambulances rushed in with stretchers. Broken glass and debris were strewn around the neighborhood.

“There’s a sense of helplessness,” said Sandy Teller, watching from his apartment a block away. “Cots and gurneys, waiting. It’s a mess.” Another witness told Fox affiliate WNYW that he saw several people run from the building shortly after he heard a loud crash that “sounded like a Harley-Davidson,” some with bloodied faces.

Flames shot from the windows on two upper floors of building on East 72nd Street, about five miles from the World Trade Center. A pillar of black smoke rose over the city, and burning debris fell as firefighters shot water streams of water at the flames from the floors below. WNYW executive producer Sarah Graham was at the scene shortly after the collision.

“It’s unbelievable at this point,” Graham said in a telephone interview. “I am literally right across the street from this building. This dead-end street is all residential, all apartments. You’ve got people coming out of the building not knowing what happened to it. I just heard the chaos.” Added WNYW reporter John Deutzman: “There’s a massive hole in the side of this building.”

The blaze was extinguished in less than an hour. The aircraft struck the 20th floor with a loud bang, authorities and witnesses said. The Federal Aviation Administration said it was too early to determine what type of aircraft was involved, or what might have caused the crash in the middle of a hazy, overcast October afternoon.

The tower was built in the late 1980s and is situated near Sotheby’s auction house. It has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million. All three New York City-area airports continued to operate normally, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said. And the Homeland Security spokesman said, “There is no specific or credible intelligence suggesting a threat to the homeland at this time.”

Lidle Dies As Plane Crashes
Into Manhattan High-rise

NEW YORK (ESPN) - A small plane with New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle aboard crashed into a 50-story condominium tower Wednesday on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, killing Lidle and three other people and raining flaming debris on sidewalks, authorities said.

Federal Aviation Administration records showed the single-engine plane was registered to Lidle, and FBI reports show that Lidle’s passport was found at the scene. The FBI believed Lidle was the only person aboard the plane and the other three deaths occurred inside the building.

Lidle crossed the picket line at spring training in 1995 following the ‘94 players’ strike. He pitched for seven major-league teams beginning in 1997 with the Mets. He also pitched for Tampa Bay, Oakland, Toronto, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and finally the Yankees, who acquired him before the trade deadline in July along with outfielder Bobby Abreu. For his career, he was 82-72 with two saves and a 4.57 ERA.

(CNN) - There was a mayday, FAA reports, from the pilot involving a problem with fuel before the aircraft crashed into the 50-story high-rise on Manhattan’s East Side.

Witness Henry Neimark, who is also a pilot, said he saw a plane flying at relatively low altitude which seemed to come from LaGuardia International Airport.

“It looked to me in retrospect that this was a pilot desperately trying to get back to the airport and land safely on a runway,” he said.

“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.”

“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.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/11/2006 at 03:13 PM   
Filed Under: • News-Briefs •  
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