Locarno, located in the middle south of Switzerland, appears about 75 km from Milan, as the crow flies.
(At the risk of appearing frivolous, this map also shows where Liechtenstein is. I always wondered about that.)
Posted on 04/18/2002 9:06:38 AM PDT by Bommer
Just reported that a small engine plane crashed into a Skyscraper in Milan Italy
The plane's pilot reported technical problems shortly before slamming into the office block, the tallest in Milan, transport officials said.
The Interior Ministry said it was probably an accident, scotching initial fears that the crash was a repeat of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
"The first information we have points to an accident," Interior Minister Claudio Scajola told reporters.
"We have news of three dead and dozens and dozens of injured," said Pier Gianni Prosperini, the deputy head of Milan's regional government.
"We heard the sound of propellers as if from a small aircraft and then there was a huge bang. Everything was flying through the air, paper, furniture," a female office worker, who declined to give her name, said.
The high-rise building, which dominates the skyline of Italy's financial capital, was torn open across at least two stories. It houses local government offices, and towers above the city's central train station.
An official at the local air transport office said the pilot, who was believed to have taken off from Switzerland, had reported problems with his plane's undercarriage as he approached Milan in bright, late afternoon sunshine.
CIRCLING CITY
Air traffic controllers lost contact with the pilot as he was circling the city ahead of trying to land at around 5:45 p.m. (1545 GMT).
Immediately after the incident, the president of the upper house of parliament said the building was "very probably" the target of a terror attack, but soon afterwards his spokesman said it was probably just an accident.
The skyscraper, which stands 400 feet tall, is known as the Pirelli high-rise, but the Italian tire and cable company no longer operates from it.
"I heard a strange bang so I went to the windows and outside I saw the windows of the Pirelli building blown out and then I saw smoke coming from them," said Gianluca Liberto, an engineer who was working in the area.
Since the Sept. 11 hijacked airliner attacks on New York's World Trade Center and in Washington, Italy has been at the forefront of the U.S.-led war on terrorism in Europe.
In October, U.S. officials said they believed Milan's Islamic Cultural Institute was al Qaeda's main European base. Muslim leaders in Italy have denied that charge.
Italy has arrested around 30 people on suspicion of links to extremist Islamic groups since September 11 and has frozen around ($300 million) of suspected assets.
Milan's stock exchange suspended share trading after the incident.
On the radio news today, the reporters were all attempting to spin this as an accident, and used the example of the accutane teen in Tampa as a case of "non terrorism", despite the fact that Mr. Bishop/Beshara had a note in his pocket praising OBL and 9-11.
When facts are inconvenient, they are ignored.
Piper makes some good sized aircraft
Possibly. It would depend on factors like where he was coming from and what his window of oppurtunity is. Maybe he wasn't cleared for night flight and that this was the earliest he could arrive from his point of origin.
This might have been the best plan this guy could have concocted. As a suicide plan there are more factors than simply taking lives. This apparently was a good target for polical purposes.
True ... but I will say alot of this isn't passing the smell test ..
They mentioned that this guy was circling the area before he crashed .. wouldn't some on try to head to the airport or even an area that wasn't a major city
NEXT ON FOX: WHEN SMALL AIRCRAFT CRASH INTO OBSCURE ITALIAN BUILDINGS HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD AND FREEPERS HAVE A CODE BROWN AND SPECULATE HOW MANY ARABS AND POUNDS OF EXPLOSIVES WERE INVOLVED!!
Not trying to make light of the deaths, but some people are just so paranoid and easily freaked out everytime a (insert mode of travel here) crashes they give me a code brown just thinking about the fact they could be living next door to me.
Sure the hell is.
Locarno, located in the middle south of Switzerland, appears about 75 km from Milan, as the crow flies.
(At the risk of appearing frivolous, this map also shows where Liechtenstein is. I always wondered about that.)
Also on MSNBC the pilot is reported to be a well known person of age 60 to 65 years old. (It appears he had a lot of experience.)
You're assuming it went straight in. A small plane could potentially do this if it hit the building at an angle. Also, you're really only looking at damaged window frames, which are probably not all that hard to break.
The short-duration fire is somewhat consistent with the (perhaps) small amount of fuel on board (it'd be less than the 93-123 gallon spec, due to time in flight).
Geezus Kryst! Type a 5 before a 2 and the history NAZI's come out in force!
No, but in your scenario it knows how to descend carefully to about 350 feet, level off, line itself up on the largest building in Milan and strike it dead center at the height calculated to do the maximum damage.
It's possible that this is an accident, but extremely unlikely.
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