NEW YORK (Reuters) - A small aircraft crashed into a building on Manhattan's Upper East Side on Wednesday, but a U.S. official said there was no reason to believe it was terrorism-related.
The small general aviation plane crashed on East 72nd St. and York Avenue, near the East River, CNN reported, citing the Federal Aviation Administration.
A U.S. official told Reuters there was no reason to believe the crash was an act of terrorism.
The images of fire and smoke pouring out of the windows of a high rise building evoked images of the hijack plane attacks of September 11, 2001.
According to 880 Am Radio (WCBS) in New York, NORAD has scrambled fighter craft mearly as a precausion. They are also interviewing someone right now who said it looked like the pilot was "doing acrobatics" and struggling to get back to the airport. They are also reporting that it was a Piper Cub or or something of that size. No word on casualties or whether anyone is trapped in the building.
This obviously brings back to mind thoughts of 9/11. However, this seems to look like an accident, not terrorisim. I am looking out the windows of my office and missing is the thick black smoke that I saw on 9/11. Therefore, there is probably not a lot of jet fuel burning.
This is something that hits home to me. I work less than 20 blocks south of the crash site and have many friends and collegues that live in the upper east side.
More on this developing story as it becomes available.
UPDATE: 2 people confirmed dead in this accident.
Dow also lost nearly 70 points as word of the crash spread and fear of terrorisim loomed.
Reported on FoxNews.com,
As of 3:25 p.m. ET, the incident had not affected flights coming in or out of the New York area.
The building is 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.
A spokesman for the National Transportation Security Board said that agency is organizing a team to send to New York to investigate the crash.
880 AM Radio is reporting that the plane originated from New Jersey's Tererboro Airport. Newschannel 4 is reporting that "Sources told NewsChannel 4 that the aircraft launched from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The plane was a Cirrus SR20, a single-engine aircraft capable of carrying four passengers and equipped with a parachute designed to let it float to earth in case of a mishap, according to an FAA official."
UPDATE: 4 deaths confirmed. "Two bodies were found on East 72nd Street, one of which was strapped to an aircraft chair. Two bodies were also found in one of the apartments."
Carol Higgins Clark, the mystry novelist, is a resident of the building. Her apartment is on 38th floor on that side of the building. The impact is in the high 30's, low 40th floor.
UPDATE: 880 Radio and CNN are reporting that the plane was registered to New York Yankee Pitcher Cory Lidle. And they are reporting that a member of the Yankee organization was on board, although not confirming it was Cory Lidle.
Technorati: plane crash, nyc, ues, upper east side, bloomberg, bellaire, cory lidle.
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