Images of Cirrus SR20
Posted on 10/11/2006 1:51:24 PM PDT by Irontank
small plane crashed into a 50-story luxury high-rise building on Manhattan's Upper East Side Wednesday, igniting a raging fire, killing at least two and initially trapping people on the floors above the point of impact.
New York Police Department officials said two were confirmed dead and there could be more fatalities.
The plane hit the building, located at 524 East 72nd Street, 20 floors above space occupied by the Hospital for Special Surgery.
The New York Fire Department told FOX News that there were people trapped above the point of impact, but the NYPD later said that all occupants located above the fire-ravaged floors had been evacuated.
By 3:30 p.m. ET, the blaze was reported to have been extinguished.
FBI spokeswoman Christine Monaco said there was no indication the crash — which happened five years and one month after Sept. 11, 2001 — was a terrorist attack, but officials "have been sent to the scene as a routine."
"The initial indication is that there is a terrible accident," said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke. Fighter jets, however, were scrambled and were patrolling the skies above major cities as a precaution, according to Defense Department officials.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Bob Ojeda's still alive, isn't he? He survived that awful boating accident that killed two of his Cleveland Indian teammates. I just loved watching him pitch for the 86 Mets.
IIRC he was severely injured and the reports at the time said he was partially scalped.
You're right. They rarely get the political stories right - why would any of them bother to get the aviation facts right? It's a specialized subject, and many of the driveby media majored in communications or something. Drives me nuts.
That's the same plane my friend has. It's equipped with a parachute....the whole plane has a parachute. The funny thing is that if you go on their webite (cirrusdesign.com) they have a video showing the parachute coming out of the plane...but they don't show the plane actually landing safely!!!!
Didn't Ojeda also have an accident with his hedgetrimmer? Less serious of course than the fatal boating accident.
I hope that doesn't happen. The Cirrus was designed as a clean-sheet airplane, and is well-engineered and designed. I've met the two designers of the airplane, and they are serious airplane people. I've been pleased to see the Cirrus evolve from an experimental design to a certified aircraft, which is the devil's own task. Jumping through the FAA hoops for certification is no easy deal.
"I doubt hundreds of terrorists could slip through the scrutiny of the smaller airports."
who said anything about airports? I'm talking wheat fields of kansas. If they bought fifty planes, one in each state, for a 100-200K each, and go did their job, there would be no stopping them.
Images of Cirrus SR20
This has to be one of the most ignorant posts I've ever seen here.
A freaking airplane with a parachute for the whole plane.
Well at least you can admit that that it didn't work very well.
I hear that. They also reported that the airplane had a parachute safety system. They went on to say there was not enough altitude to use it.
If there is an angle for a lawsuit, it will happen.
The idea that a parachute could cushion the fall of an object that heavy doesn't add up to me.
Since the Munson death, the Yankees and I am sure other teams require that their players fly with a flight instructor ALL the time.
Lidle no doubt followed the rules.
Speculation is one thing, but when you come on here as THE expert you need to get the FACTS first.
You recall correctly. I remember it was nearing dusk, and the boat went into/under the dock. Bobby O had a tough patch - he almost cut the tip of a finger off while doing yardwork in 1987.
You are an idiot. Why not get some facts before you suggest others are ignorant. You seem to have the ignorance market covered here on this topic of the parachute.
Oh please, this dude was flying nothing more than a gas bomb. There is a huge difference between a car crash and a plane crash. A car crash does not have the ability to take out thousands of people like a plane crashing. Why these stupid private ego planes are even allowed anywhere near Manhattan after 911 is beyond me. Any Mohammed at any time could get his hands on one of these and crash it dead center in Times Square during tourist season and take out half the block, but nooooo....Only public jet planes must be looked at.
Yes, the BRS has deployment limitations, of course. It's physics. I've seen the deployment video, and it's pretty impressive.
The two most valuable uses of the BRS, I think, are when the pilot becomes ncapacitated, when a nonflying passenger can pull the handle; also, if there's any structural failure (losing a wing, prop or tail) which would make the usual glide impossible. I think it's a great idea.
Yea, if something liked that worked they would have used parachutes on return from moon landings. Oh wait...
Any hack-Mohammed can do more damage with a cab.
Alright, good... Then I suppose you have no problem with an Exxon truck loaded with gas flying down 5th avenue 100 MPH driven by a guy who just got his license yesterday. "Oh but he has an instructor next to him"
Hildy is correct. The Cirrus is equipped with a BRS (Ballistic Recovery System), as a last-ditch emergency device. Another poster upthread said that it might have been too low above them ground to work. Look at the Cirrus website, and Google BRS - there's a lot of information out there.
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