Posted on 10/11/2006 1:47:13 PM PDT by freepatriot32
NEW YORK (Oct. 11) - A small plane crashed into an Upper East Side high-rise Wednesday, killing two people, raining debris on the sidewalks below and rattling New Yorkers' nerves exactly one month after the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
The two deaths were confirmed by New York police. There was no word yet on injuries linked to the crash on an overcast October afternoon.
Christine Monaco, a New York spokeswoman for the FBI, said there was no indication of terrorism. FAA spokesman Jim Peters said all three New York City-area airports were operating normally.
Large crowds gathered at the crash scene in the tony New York neighborhood, with many people in tears and others trying to reach loved ones by cell phone. Mayor Michael Bloomberg went to the site, where parts of the fuselage fell to the ground.
"I just saw something come across the sky and crash into that building," said Young May Cha, 23, a Cornell University medical student who was walking along 72nd Street. "There was fire, debris ... The explosion was very small."
Cha said it appeared the plane was "flying erractically" before it slammed into The Belaire Condo, where apartments sell for more than $1 million. Residents of the condo and the building next door were evacuated as thick black smoke wafted above the city skyline, and flames shot from the apartments where the plane crashed.
"I was worried the building would explode, so I got out of there fast," said Lori Claymont, who fled the adjoining building in sweat pants.
The aircraft struck the 20th floor of a building on East 72nd Street, said Fire Department spokeswoman Emily Rahimi. The crash ignited a four-alarm fire in the building, with 39 fire units and 168 firefighters responding.
"It's a mob scene with police and helicopters circling," said Sandy Teller, watching from his apartment a block away. "There's a dozen ambulances and lots of firefighters waiting on 72nd, on the corner. There's lots of stretchers ready, gurneys. And lots of emergency people waiting."
The crash struck fear in a city devastated by the attacks of Sept. 11 five years ago. Witnesses said sirens echoed across the east side of Manhattan as emergency workers rushed to the scene. The crash triggered a loud bang. Broken glass and debris was strewn around the neighborhood.
"There's a sense of helplessness," Teller said. "Cots and gurneys, waiting. It's a mess."
Rain started pouring at the scene at around 4 p.m., and people gazed up at the smoke and fire as they covered their heads with plastic bags.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was too early to determine what type of aircraft was involved, or what might have caused the crash in the middle of a hazy October afternoon.
Richard Drutman, a professional photographer who lives on the building's 11th floor, said he was speaking on the telephone when he felt the building shake.
"There was a huge explosion. I looked out my window, and saw what appeared to be pieces of wings, on fire, falling from the sky," Drutman said.
He and his girlfriend quickly evacuated the building.
Mystery writer Carol Higgins Clark, daughter of author Mary Higgins Clark, lives on the 38th floor of the struck building and was coming home in a cab when she saw the smoke. She hasn't been able to get into her apartment.
"Thank goodness I wasn't at my apartment writing at the time," she said. She described the building's residents as a mix of actors, doctors, laywer and writers, and people with second homes.
The address of the building is 524 E. 72nd Street -- a 50-story condominium tower built in the late 1980s and located near Sotheby's auction house. The Belaire Condo, developed by William Zeckendorf Jr., has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million.
Several lower floors of the building are occupied by doctors and administrative offices, as well as guest facilities for family members of patients at the Hospital for Special Surgery, hospital spokeswoman Phyllis Fisher said. No patients were in the high-rise building and operations at the hospital a block away weren't affected, Fisher said. The Hospital for Special Surgery specializes in orthopedic operations.
"exactly one month after the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack."
They're stretching.
Not really - 9/11 to 10/11 is one month since the 5th anniversary of the WTC attack in 2001 and it's 2006.
Factually true, but entirely unimportant, even without the hindsight of knowing that it is irrelevant.
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