MORE PICS – DRAMA - Cirrus SR20 PLANE SMASHED NY 50-Storey APARTMENT; US Jets SCRAMBLED; REMINISCENT of 9/11 Terrorist Attack But Was An ACCIDENT
ABOVE: Height of the fire & BELOW: Fire simmering down
ABOVE & BELOW: Closed up views of the burning inferno at the 30th & 31st Floor of the Belair 50-storey Building
Staff reporter and agencies ;
Smoke billows from a 50-storey
It may only have been a matter of minutes but for many New Yorkers it seemed so much longer -- and so terribly reminiscent. A pall of thick black smoke hung over the
Shortly before
And then, details began to emerge. The crash had been of a single-engine light plane that had swerved off its path over the
ABOVE: Cory Lidel, the pitcher with NY Yangkees Club was the owner of the plane but it could not be established if he was the pilot at that time
And then another telling detail: at the controls had been a celebrity, a pitcher with the
The city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, giving a public address shortly after the accident, touched on how
Lidle (34) had acquired his pilot's licence only a few months ago and had been planning to head for
On the Cirrus website, the company says its "revolutionary Cirrus Airframe Parachute System" (CAPS™) is comprised of a ballistically powered 55-foot (16m) parachute that can lower the aircraft and its occupants safely to the ground during a life-threatening emergency.
The website said the parachute is activated by a simple pull handle, "and is a safety feature much appreciated by non-flying members who know that in the event of a pilot incapacitation, they can still make it safely to a survivable landing". "For even the most highly skilled pilot, events can occur outside the realm of control. Many of these emergencies could result in a fatal crash. CAPS™ provides one final option—a lifesaving parachute of safety."
The New York Times quoted one of his instructors as saying: "He was probably my best student. He learned very, very quickly, and a lot of it is desire. He had huge desire."
The Cirrus took off from
A federal official, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the plane sent a distress call to the Federal Aviation Authority before it crashed. Henry Neimark, a pilot who witnessed the accident while driving along the
Richard Drutman, a professional photographer who lives on the building's 11th floor, said he was speaking on the telephone when he felt the building shake. "There was a huge explosion. I looked out my window, and saw what appeared to be pieces of wings, on fire, falling from the sky." He and his girlfriend quickly left the building, he said.
Witnesses reported the sense of panic when the plane struck. "I just saw something come across the sky and crash into that building. There was fire, debris and an explosion," said Young May Cha (23) a medical student at
The FAA said it was too early to determine what caused the crash. One question the authorities will address is how the plane managed to reach airspace above residential areas of
Firefighters injured
ABOVE & BELOW: Firemen at Ground Zero looking at the mess created by the fallen debris of the remains of the burnt out plane
Twenty-one people -- most of them firefighters -- were taken to hospital.. Two people in an adjoining apartment miraculously escaped injury. Apartments in the
Surreal
A South African travelling in
"My first thoughts were predictably of a terrorist attack but it was ruled out quite quickly. Once the full story emerged what struck me most was the fact that a private plane was able to fly so close to
"I would have thought that after 9/11 it would be near impossible for something like this to happen. It makes you wonder how many other easy opportunities for terrorist attacks still exist in cities across the world," he said. - Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006, Staff reporter.
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US scrambles fighters after NY plane crash
Admiral Tim Keating, commander of the US Northern Command, would not say how many cities were under air cover but insisted there was no sign of terrorism in the accident on
"Fighters, along with early warning systems, they've been up there for half an hour, 45 minutes," Keating told CNN.
"There are no, repeat, no indications that there is anything underfoot beyond this one airplane or helicopter, whatever, light civil (aircraft) that flew into this apartment building in
"But ... we reserve the right to exercise our capabilities, which is what we've done here."
White House not ruling anything out.
The White House was not ruling out any theory on the crash, a spokesperson said, adding that there was no change in the country's terror alert level.
"There is no change of the alert level."
Frattor said President George W. Bush was informed shortly after the crash, which evoked memories of the
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