by rain » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:03 pm
<br>Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. investigators are in Manhattan working to determine the cause of a plane crash that killed New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and one other person yesterday afternoon. <br><br>Two U.S. agencies and makers of the plane and its engine are probing the wreckage in and around the 50-story building on the Upper East Side that the plane crashed into. Officials reassured the public that the crash wasn't an act of terrorism, in a city that was shaken five years ago when terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Center. <br><br>The New York Yankees, who acquired Lidle in a July trade with the Philadelphia Phillies, mourned the pitcher's loss. His death came four days after the Yankees' season ended when they were defeated by the Detroit Tigers in baseball's playoffs. <br><br>``I am deeply saddened by this tragic event and I ask everyone to keep Cory, his family and all those affected by this tragedy in your prayers,'' Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said in a statement on MLB.com, which is owned by Major League Baseball. <br><br>New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday that a flight instructor and student were aboard the single-engine plane for a sightseeing trip. He declined to identify the dead until family members were notified. MLB.com reported that Lidle, 34, was the pilot and had been killed. Lidle was married with a son. <br><br>`Unbelievable' <br><br>``Today was unbelievable news to me. It still hasn't sunk in,'' said Kevin Lidle, Cory Lidle's twin brother, on CNN last night. ``Cory was a normal person. If you were to meet him on the street, you would not know he was a New York Yankee.'' <br><br>The plane slammed into an upper floor of the Belaire, a 50- story red brick luxury condominium building at East 72nd Street near York Avenue at about 2:42 p.m. local time, the New York Fire Department said. Debris fell to the street and flames shot from windows of the building. <br><br>The Federal Aviation Administration, Cirrus Design Corp., which made the plane, and Teledyne Technologies Inc., which made the engine, are investigating the crash, National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Deborah Hersman said in a televised news conference last night. <br><br>Hersman said 14 firefighters and two police officers were treated for minor injuries. <br><br>While officials didn't blame weather for the crash, New York City airports were delayed later in the evening because of high winds, according to the FAA. <br><br>Lidle the Pilot <br><br>The FAA said on its Web site that Lidle had an ownership application pending for the plane, a Cirrus SR20 registered in Lakeland, Florida. Lidle, who got his pilot's license in February, bought the four-year-old plane in June, Hersman said. <br><br>The Federal Bureau of Investigation said yesterday that there were no indications of terrorism. <br><br>``There is nothing to suggest that anything even remotely like terrorism was involved,'' Bloomberg said. The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. <br><br>Governor George Pataki said yesterday that the FAA was imposing a temporary restriction on general-aviation aircraft, requiring New York-area planes flying at less than 1,500 feet to be under air-traffic control authorization. That restriction was lifted last night, Hersman said. <br><br>``This tragic accident brings into sharp focus the need to gain greater control of the airspace around New York,'' Pataki said in an e-mailed statement. <br><br>Flying Along a River <br><br>The mayor said the plane left Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, circled the Statue of Liberty, then flew north along the East River. <br><br>The pilot had been flying in a corridor over the river, FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said yesterday. She said the pilot wasn't required to be in touch with FAA air-traffic controllers. Spokeswoman Laura Brown said planes flying over the East River corridor are required by the FAA to fly below 1,100 feet. <br><br>The accident spurred memories of the death of Yankees catcher Thurman Munson in 1979. Munson, who was the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1976, died after crashing his Cessna Citation while practicing landings at Akron-Canton Regional Airport in Ohio, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board. <br><br>``All of baseball is shocked and terribly saddened by the sudden and tragic passing of Cory Lidle,'' Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. <br><br>Offseason Flights <br><br>Lidle bought a four-seat Cirrus SR20 built in 2002 that had logged less than 400 hours in the air, the New York Times reported on Sept. 8. The pitcher kept the plane at Teterboro Airport during the season and planned to fly near his home in West Covina, California, during the offseason, the Times said. <br><br>The incident occurred exactly five years and one month after terrorists flew two planes into New York's World Trade Center, bringing down its landmark twin towers. <br><br>Almost 3,000 people were killed when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners on Sept. 11, 2001, and crashed them into the trade center, the Pentagon outside Washington and a field in rural Pennsylvania. <br><br>The Belaire, which has two-bedroom units priced at more than $1 million, was built in 1988, according to the cityrealty.com Web site. The residential tower was modeled after 30 Rockefeller Plaza for a development team headed by William Zeckendorf Jr. <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aiUJWWFbxeg8&refer=home">www.bloomberg.com/apps/ne...refer=home</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> <p></p><i></i>