The Mystery of the Cory Lidle Plane Crash

Investigators are trying to piece together what happened to the plane that crashed into an Upper East Side building and that carried NY Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor.

The NYT has a good interactive graphic showing the flight path and the last minutes of the plane.

It is not known who was at the controls at the time of the crash, but this incident is sure to renew questions about how and where general aviation planes can fly in the NYC Metro area. This particlar area is especially busy as it skirts along the edge of the LGA approach and helicopters are often in the area covering traffic along the Harlem River/FDR Drive corridor.

Mayor Bloomberg seems to dismiss the idea that such small planes would be used by terrorists because of the relatively small amount of damage they can inflict, but I'm not quite convinced of that - a small plane packed with a couple hundred pounds of explosives or a chemical or biological agent could cause a tremendous amount of harm.

All that said, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those involved in what appears to be a tragic accident.

UPDATE:
CNN and other outlets are revealing the name of the instructor who died with Lidle on the plane. His name is Tyler Stanger.

New York police today identified the flight instructor who died in the plane crash with baseball pitcher Cory Lidle as Tyler Stanger. National Transportation Safety Board members investigating the crash say Lidle's pilot log book, a propeller and the engine have been found.

Finding key parts of the plane will help investigators figure out whether the plane suffered from a mechanical failure of some sort causing the crash.

Now, here's a suggestion that might improve future aircraft safety. Require all aircraft, not just the passenger jets, to carry flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders. Not only will that help investigators determine the causes of such crashes, but will help improve safety among the general aviation industry. It's an issue worth looking into.

For some additional perspective, take a gander at the monthly totals for accidents at the NTSB site - both fatal and nonfatal, and you'll notice that there are quite a few accidents, but not as many as happen on our roads. Accidents occur fairly regularly, but this particular incident happened to get people's attention because it occurred over the very densely populated NYC Metro area. The crash into a building is spectacular, but no less fatal than a collision with trees or other objects in the heartland.

UPDATE:
It didn't take long. Politicians are calling for a review of the flight paths in the NYC metro area.

Under current rules, small aircraft can fly without filing a flight plan along two low-altitude corridors over the East River and Hudson River at lower than 1,100 feet without air traffic control contact. Many lawmakers want that changed.


"The idea that a plane or helicopter can fly 100 or 200 feet over a building in Manhattan took many New Yorkers by surprise and as a matter of common sense it needs to be changed," said U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat, calling for a permanent no-fly zone over Manhattan for small planes.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates aviation safety, said in a statement it would review with federal and local authorities its flight rules for New York City.

Separately, the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said preliminary evidence showed the SR20's engine was operating when it hit the building.

Investigators also said radar showed the plane flying north at 112 mph before entering a looping left turn at 700 feet to head back down the East River. The pilots would have needed FAA permission to continue northward into LaGuardia airport air space. The plane dropped to 500 feet midway through the turn, about a quarter-mile from impact.

Some politicans have differing ideas over the safety of the corridor on the East River and restricting flying in the NYC metro area:

Gov. George Pataki said Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration "needs to take a much tougher line" about private, or general aviation, flights over the city.

However, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a recreational pilot with decades of experience, said he believes the skies are safe under the current rules.

"We have very few accidents for an awful lot of traffic," he said. "Every time you have an automobile accident, you're not going to go and close the streets or prohibit people from driving."

Aviation officials have downplayed the potential threat posed by light aircraft, but FAA spokeswoman Laura J. Brown said in a written statement Thursday that the agency would review its guidelines for general aviation and flight restrictions as a result of the Lidle crash.

And an aviation industry representative said Wednesday's crash demonstrates that small private planes have little potential as terrorist weapons.

"Yesterday's accident caused no structural damage to the building struck," said Chris Dancy, spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Small planes "are simply incapable of causing the kind of catastrophic damage that terrorists usually seek."

And there was a time when no one thought it possible that someone would fly jumbo jets into buildings to cause their collapse. Dancy ought to know better than to assume that terrorists would not try to exploit weaknesses in whatever capacity they could. Loading a plane full of explosives and/or chemical or biological agents could have the potential to wreak havoc just as surely as a jumbo jet.

A thorough review should be conducted, and improved flight guidelines should be implemented, including the idea of limiting those who are eligible to fly into the immediate vicinity of New York City to those who have over a certain amount of flying time. States already restrict drivers under a certain age from driving without another older driver in the vehicle and limits them to certain times of day (New York comes to mind). The same can and should be considered here.

Technorati: plane crash, nyc, ues, upper east side, bloomberg, belaire, cory lidle, tyler stanger, new york.