UPDATE: Aircraft hit building at 71st and York Ave on East Side of Manhattan

Rush Limbaugh Show ^ | 10/11/06 | Rush Limbaugh

[Yossarian]

Rush reports that a Cessna has been reported as crashing into (at least one) apartment complex in NYC Mannhattan's upper east side - on East 71st Street.

[RS]

" I only demonstrated the difficult of making that decision in the second or two you might have in which to make it."

For any pilot in that situation there would not even be the question of making that decision -

The question would be "where do I and my passengers have the best chance of survival ?" ... not " where can I make sure we die quicker ? "

[Concho]

Fair enough.

I guess I'm spoiled, I fly high and straight and take all the extra proficiency. But then I am a search and rescue pilot, and I find those who dont.....

[bootless]

He got his private pilot license in February of this year.

Updated info can be found on www.avweb.com

Prayers up. This is so sad.

[nevergore]

There is a degree of proportionality that should be reviewed before posing any laws or restrictions on any citizen.

Generally GA crashes in highly urban areas are not really a problem requiring additional restrictions.

If you look at the number of hours flown versus accidents that involve fatalities, as a group, GA is a very safe group.

From what I understand in the latest reports from today's accident, there was a Flight Instructor in the co-pilot seat on this flight. By definition, there was a professional pilot on board. It will be interesting to see what the FAA determines as the reason for the crash.

[nj_pilot]

All noted. The tampa suicide showed just how little damage a light plane will do to a building. The fire following this crash was very dramatic on TV, but the net result (a fire that burned two appartments and killed four people in a motof vehicle accident) was unworthy of this sort of hype. He must have been loaded up with that spendy Teterboro gas :-)

We have a lot of freedoms in this country that when exposed to untutored prejudice seem shocking. But after reflecting on the true danger posed by these freedoms, one should rest easier. Light planes don't carry much, so they are not very well suited to terrorist purposes. Further, they are not easily accessable to the general public as are, oh, say, Ryder trucks. Politicians and media "personalities" like Det Deitl (Ret) who pander to the fearful and scapegoat small groups are not particularly admirable.

So, yes: you can fly in the VFR exclusions with a private pilot. If you get to NYC sometime, ping me. It will be a ride you'd remember forever.

Peace.

[supremedoctrine]

I was wrong. Wrong wrong wrong....everyone knows now that it was a NY Yankee, of all people, with too little flying
experience, and an instructor, and a lot of very bad luck/
The amazing thing for me is that I was walking around in that building 3 times last week: It is part of a complex of buildings connected to the Hospital for Special Surgery where my wife had an operation on the 28th.

[nj_pilot]

FWIW, I believe that student pilots are forbidden from the Class B airspace. I am not sure if that would include the VFR exclusions - it's been a while since I was a student pilot.

The restriction on students in the Class B is understandable given the communication requirements. I can just imagine a 25 hour post-solo student trying to negotiate a Bravo clearance w/ a NY controller.

But a post-solo student has demonstated (atleast a few times) the ability to t/o and land - significantly more taxing of the skills than missing skyscrapers.

[Gradient Vector]

"Just because we occasionally become uneasy when...oh, I don't know, a plane flies off course into a residential building on the Upper East Side, sending burning parts into the streets and setting off a three alarm fire that in turn causes all of 1st and York Avenue to break out into chaos, does not mean we are irrational."

It depends, are you afraid of driving a car? Are you afraid of illegal immigrants? Both those things have killed way many more people than terrorism. Terrorism is extremely unlikely to kill you or even hurt you. Those are the facts, now if you want to live in fear that a plane will crash into your apartment thats fine by me, but I sure hope you are wearing your seat belt because thats many times more likely to be your downfall.

[Man50D]

From the start it looked like an accident given the apparent small size of the craft and the building that was hit.

It is inaccurate to assume terrorists would only select aircraft greater than a certain size. A small aircraft could be flown by a lone terrorist operating as his own terrorist cell.

[deport]

Wasn't it just a month or two ago that a tape surfaced that said that AQ knew they made a mistake on 9/11 by not having those hijackers fly into the buildings at lower levels so that people on upper levels were trapped?

---

I don't know. I never heard that but then I could believe they would put out such info.

[Moose4]

Somebody over on airliners.net linked this page:

http://www4.passur.com/lga.html

It's a site that shows you the airspace around Laguardia Airport. Use the controls at the top of the page to go back to 14:40 and start it moving. You'll see a plane chugging northeast up the East River; if you click on it to select it it'll show as "General Aviation", no identification, altitude 600 or 700 feet. About 14:41:25, after it crosses what I assume to be the 59th Street Bridge, at 700 feet altitude, it hangs a VERY abrupt left turn until it's heading west, and stops moving about 14:41:40 at 600 feet. I can only assume that was Corey Lidle's plane. It's flying along like normal up the East River, and then turns sharply left back into Manhattan and probably hits the building about 20 seconds later.

}:-)4

[ken5050]

FYI.. A few days ago, Lidel was on the radio with MIke and the Mad Dog WFAN in NYC..They tore him a new one for his comments that the Yankees weren't prepared for the Tigers. Riveting radio. Lidle siad he was misquoted...The interview is available here

[RDTF]

per Fox the other deceased was a flight instructor that was with him

[Mamzelle]

What's the point of having a pilot's license if you can't air-tour a big downtown-- where thousands of people look like little ants, having that soaring sensation at its most ascendent ? If that's not slipping the surly bonds of earth, what is?

He always dreamed of flying low over NYC.

[aculeus]

When was it renamed?

In the 1920s.

[Man50D]

He was recently traded to the Yankees with Bobby Abreu. It's possible other players were on board. It's also possible it was his family - he has a wife and one child.

It amazes people believe the speculation and rumor perpetuated by the media especially considering there had been no confirmation from officials including the FAA, New York Yankees, New York City or the Lidle family that Lidle was killed in the crash when his alleged death was first reported by the media.

[durasell]

Fear/unease serves a purpose. It keeps people alert.

[Arkinsaw]

We have a lot of freedoms in this country that when exposed to untutored prejudice seem shocking.

I understand what you are saying. But no tutoring can make me think that it is wise to allow aircraft to "circle the Statue of Liberty" without rather significant restrictions. A small aircraft can do a lot of damage to the right target.

We definitely have people attempting to destroy symbolic targets, there is no debate on that and there are symbolic targets in Manhattan that we have to protect.

The reference was made to Ryder trucks, we shouldn't be allowing Ryder trucks unrestricted access to building basements or tunnels either.

We are in a war. In World War II if someone did not want their freedom restricted and insisted on keeping all of their lights on in a blackout...that is a foolish person.

Lots of people are yelling about restrictions on liberty at this moment or violations of civil rights....as if there were no 911......some have a point about some things....but there are necessary restrictions and life is not the same during wartime.

[MotleyGirl70]

I know someone who bought a high floor in that condo a couple of years ago. I hope she and her son were ok.

Prayers...I hope they're safe.

[Gradient Vector]

"Fear/unease serves a purpose. It keeps people alert."

Fascists and communists use fear to take a otherwise freedom loving people and make them slaves.