Posted on 10/11/2006 11:53:53 AM PDT by 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.
Really confusing now.
One article says a plane hit the 20th floor and the other says a helicopter hit the 41st floor? Which is it?
I believe it. Everytime I lurk in TM, I marvel at all of your amazing collective abilities :) I would be more inclined to believe this was -something- if it happened tomorrow, anniversary of the USS Cole and Bali, rather than today, '11' notwithstanding.
Just remember, I asked nicely.
Yes, I remember. The kid's name was Bishop, a name that had been shortened from a more ME sounding one. That was sad and got little MSM attention after he was id'ed.
Are NYC Humvee's armored?!
Twin-engine "doing acrobatic maneuvers" = pilot got preoccupied with handling an engine failure and let the plane get below Vmc? Or stalled? Or got into the clouds (ceiling overcast at 1500') and got disoriented?
Betcha the NTSB's already got people heading for the airport in Washington.
}:-)4
(New York - WABC, October 11, 2006) - The Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed that a small fixed-wing aircraft in an exclusion airspace crashed into an Upper East Side building Wednesday afternoon. A spokesperson for the FBI says there is no indication of terrorism in the crash.
Several windows of an apartment were blown out in an apartment building at the Belaire building on 524 East 72nd Street, between York and East End Avenue.
An eyewitness who saw the crash said she saw a "huge fireball." Another eyewitness told reporter Dave Evans that he was walking, heard a crash and a crunching sound and then saw smoke.
Sandy Teller, eyewitness: "It's a mob scene with police and helicopters circling. ... There's a dozen ambulances and lots of firemen waiting on 72nd, on the corner. There's lots of stretchers ready, gurneys. And lots of emergency people waiting."
Eyewitness News' Shannon Sohn was in Newscopter 7, watching the raging fire that sent a pillar of black smoke over the city. There was no immediate word on any deaths or injuries.
The Belaire is a high rise building near the Hospital for Special Surgery. A fire was reported on the 41st floor after the crash. FDNY crews are on the scene working to put the blaze out.
The New York City Red Cross said it is mobilizing and heading to the scene. The NTSB is also heading to the scene to investigate what happened on the Upper East Side.
The incident's affecting traffic: The MTA says bus service in the area will experience reroutes and delays.
The FAA has now established a temporary flight restriction, which means no aircraft may fly within one mile radius around or fifteen hundred above the accident scene.
And most airports are near or in the boonies. You've made my point.
sounds like operator error to me.. no time to mayday or much anyone could do.
"..why fighter planes over major cities?....is that true?....or is it just CNN."
Why not ? ... I would expect that they would take this precaution, with anything less then a 100% knowledge that this was not some sort of precurser.
With basically NO knowledge so far of what happened, it's a move to be expected.
bump
oo!
It's the old "abundance of caution" routine...
No indication anywhere from intel anywhere of terrorism per "the intelligence community"..
"That, of course, is as silly as positively declaring that it is terrorism."
yep. People need to be little Fonzies and be cool for all the facts to come in, I'm sure the area is on high alert for now.
Yep. He just plain ran out of gas...
On October 12, 1997 singer, songwriter, and actor John Denver was killed when he crashed the Long-EZ aircraft he was piloting after it ran out of fuel just off the coast at Pacific Grove, CA. Denver apparently lost control of the aircraft while attempting to manipulate the fuel selector handle. Denver had recently purchased the aircraft and had about a half-hour orientation flight the day before the accident. The NTSB cited Denver's unfamiliarity with the aircraft and his failure to have the aircraft refueled as causal factors in the accident. Denver was the sole occupant of the aircraft. The following synopsis of the accident is taken from the preliminary NTSB report.
NTSB Identification: LAX98FA008
Date:12 October 1997
Location: Pacific Grove, CA
Aircraft: Adrian Davis Long-EZ, registration: N555JD
The pilot had recently purchased the experimental, amateur-built Long-EZ airplane, which had a fuel system that differed from the designer's plans. This deviation from the original design plans did not require FAA approval, nor did it require a placard to indicate such change from the original design. On 10/11/97 at Santa Maria, CA, the pilot received a 1/2-hour flight and ground checkout in the airplane by another Long-EZ pilot. The pilot then departed on a 1-hour flight to his home base at Monterey with an estimated 12.5 gallons of fuel in the right tank & 6.5 gallons in the left tank. The checkout pilot estimated about 9 gallons of fuel were needed for the flight.
On 10/12/97 (the next day), a maintenance technician assisted the pilot in preparing for another flight. During preflight, the pilot was not observed to visually check the fuel. The technician noted that when the pilot was seated in the airplane, he had difficulty reaching the fuel selector handle. The technician estimated the available fuel and advised the pilot that the left tank indicated less than 1/4 full (about 3.1 gallons) and that the right tank indicated less than 1/2 full (about 3.25 gallons). The pilot declined an offer for additional fuel, saying he would only be airborne about 1 hour and did not need fuel.
The pilot took off and performed three touch-and-go landings in a span of about 26 minutes, followed by a straight-out departure to the west. Ground witnesses saw the airplane in straight and level flight about 350 to 500 feet over a residential area, then they heard a reduction of engine noise. The airplane was seen to pitch slightly nose up; then it banked sharply to the right and descended nose first into the ocean.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable causes of this accident included the pilot's diversion of attention from the operation of the airplane and his inadvertent application of right rudder that resulted in the loss of airplane control while attempting to manipulate the fuel selector handle. Also, the Board determined that the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and preparation, specifically his failure to refuel the airplane, was causal. The Board determined that the builder's decision to locate the unmarked fuel selector handle in a hard-to-access position, unmarked fuel quantity sight gauges, inadequate transition training by the pilot, and his lack of total experience in this type of airplane were factors in the accident.
My daughter was a friend of his and attended the funeral. We saw him in concert together, a great memory.
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