Small Plane Chopper Crash on NY's Upper East Side

A helicopter apparently crashed into at least one building on the Upper East Side a short time ago. Some reports are saying it was a small plane.

There are reports of injuries and people trapped in the buildings.

The helicopter seems to have crashed into 524 East 72nd Street, a residential apartment building. CNN is saying there are no reports of terrorism or hijacking.

The skies in NYC right now are overcast and the cloud level is pretty low, so weather may have played a role in this. Lots of speculating going on, but hopefully the NYPD and FDNY can get the situation under control pretty quickly.

Developing.

UPDATE:
Still no definitive information on what kind of aircraft hit, but it appears to be a general purpose craft that may have been having some kind of mechanical difficulty.

However, fighter aircraft are being put in the air over several U.S. cities as a precautionary measure, NORAD tells CNN. Combat air patrols sound like closing the barn door after you've been hit.

UPDATE:
Here's a photo of the building in better days. Reports also indicate that there were at least two casualties.

UPDATE:
A Yahoo! News photo stream has more, and it appears that the latest photos show that the fire is under control. Stop the ACLU and Ms.Underestimated has video streams of the coverage.

However, I'd disagree with the notion that the city is in pandemonium. Things may be hectic, but I don't sense the dread and fear that we all felt on 9/11. New Yorkers are a hearty bunch, and we deal with these things. In fact, many are wondering whether all the emergency activity will affect traffic to the Mets game tonite.

UPDATE:
News reports are indicating that it appears that the plane was owned and was being operated by New York Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle and that he was one of the two people killed in the crash. Lidle was acquired in the middle of the season in a deal that also brought Bobby Abreu to the Yankees. The reports also indicate that Lidle was accompanied by an instructor and that the pilot had issued a mayday alert.

The plane, a $187,000 Cirrus SR20, had been purchased recently, also apparently had an emergency parachute system but it doesn't appear to have been deployed. The New York Times had interviewed Lidle about the plane and his love of flying over the summer, not long after he came to the Yankees.

He didn't have a lot of flying time (only about seven months), and wasn't instrument rated, but it remains to be seen whether that played a role. At the time of the crash, the visibility was 9 miles, with a ceiling of 1,800.

Older Yankee fans may have flashbacks to the situation surrounding the death of Thurmon Munson.

11 firefighters and 5 other people were injured in the course of today's crash and response.

ABC News reports the plane took off from Teterboro Airport at 2:30 on a sightseeing tour to the Statue of Liberty and proceeded up the East River. Air traffic controllers lost control some time after the plane passed 59th Street, and the plane then made a hard left turn into the building.

Gothamist has more details, including Lidle's interview with the sports talk radio station WFAN's Mike and the Mad Dog program.

UPDATE:
ESPN has more on the fallout from today's tragic events. There is some speculation that MLB might cancel the Met-Cardinal League Championship Series game as a result of Lidle's death, but I think the primary reason that MLB might cancel the game is that it's raining like cats and dogs right now though it's supposed to lighten up as we get closer to gametime.

UPDATE:
The baseball game at Shea Stadium was cancelled because of the weather.

Meanwhile, the nutjobs who thought that the WTC was an inside job, are now furiously writing away that the tragic accident today was yet another conspiracy, complete with planted passports. I can't even begin to register my level of disgust with these nutjobs, but mental health professionals are standing by to provide assistance to these folks help regain their attachment to reality.

Others blogging today's events: Hot Air, It Shines For All, Ed Driscoll, Blue Crab Boulevard, Macranger, The Anchoress, Confederate Yankee, and Atlas Shrugs.

Technorati: plane crash, nyc, ues, upper east side, bloomberg, bellaire, cory lidle.