On October 11, 2006, a Cirrus SR20 small private plane crashed in New York City at about 2:42 p.m. local time (18:42 UTC). The aircraft struck the north side of the Belaire Apartments on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, causing a fire in several apartments,^[1][2] which was extinguished within two hours.^[3]

The two people aboard the aircraft were killed in the accident: New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle^[4] and his certificated flight instructor Tyler Stanger.^[5][6]Twenty-one people were injured, including 11 firefighters. An apartment resident, Ilana Benhuri, was hospitalized for a month with severe burns incurred when the plane exploded in a fireball after directly hitting her apartment.^[7]

According to the FAA, the Cirrus SR20 aircraft, tail number N929CD, was owned by Lidle.^[8]

On 1 May 2007, the National Transportation Safety Board's final hearing on this accident formally found the cause to be pilot error. The NTSB was unable to determine which person was flying the plane at the time of the crash.^[9]

Aircraft flight

Immediately prior to the crash, radar measurements show Lidle's aircraft was flying at 112 miles per hour at 700 feet altitude^[10] in the East River VFR corridor, an area which former NTSB official Peter Goelz^[11] described as "very tricky" due to its narrow width and frequent congestion.^[12] The VFR corridor ends abruptly at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island. Aircrafts must receive an air traffic control clearance to proceed beyond the boundaries of the corridor, or else must make a sharp U-turn and return the way they came. Lidle's plane flew north along the corridor almost to the end before executing a turn and hitting the north-facing side of the building along the river.^[12]

In an interview Lidle gave approximately a month earlier, he stated he had been a pilot for 7 months and had flown about 95 solo hours.^[13]

The airplane struck the floor numbered 40th (actually 30 flights of stairs above the street^[14]) of the The Belaire building at 524 East 72nd Street. The Belaire is a 50-story condominium tower containing 183 apartments,^[15] as well as a health club, garage and pool.^[16][17]

Crash into the building

The wings and fuel of the plane entered the building, but the rest of the plane did not.^[18] The plane hit the study of resident Ilane Benhuri, who was seated in the room and sustained shrapnel injuries and burns; her housekeeper was also present and helped her escape.^[19] They were in the living room next to the room with the fire, and the housekeeper kicked shut the door to the adjacent room where the fire was; she escorted her employer out the servant's entrance and shut that door too. Thus when fire fighters reached that floor, the smoke and flames were contained.^[20] The plane also hit the apartment of Kathleen Caronna who, coincidentally, was in the news in 1997 when she was hit and badly injured by a light post as it toppled down on her at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Caronna was not in her apartment at the time the plane hit, although she was on her way to it^[21]. Among the other residents of the complex is novelist Carol Higgins Clark, a resident of the 38th floor, who was interviewed by CBS Radio after she arrived at the building shortly after the crash. Then-New York Mets third-base coach Manny Acta also lives in the building, though he was away when the accident occurred.^[22]

The Belaire has guest facilities for family members of patients at the Hospital for Special Surgery, to which it is connected via a causeway on the third floor. No patients were in the high-rise building and operations at the hospital across the street were not affected, hospital spokeswoman Phyllis Fisher said.^[23]

WNBC-TV reported that the aircraft departed from Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, New Jersey, at 2:29 p.m. local time(7:29 p.m. UTC). According to multiple reports, Lidle planned on flying to Tennessee, where he had a hotel room booked for the night, then to Dallas, Texas and finally on to his home in California.^{[24] [25][26]} There is no indication that the aircraft's Ballistic Recovery Systems emergency parachute, designed to bring the plane down safely, was deployed.^[27] New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said the plane circled the Statue of Liberty before flying north up the East River and disappearing from radar near the Queensboro Bridge. The FAA confirmed that the plane was flying under visual flight rules (VFR) and attracted no special attention from air traffic controllers or NORAD before the crash. The aircraft took a hard 90-degree turn before it hit the building.^[28]

The initial news coverage was very dramatic, as firefighters did not know if there were people trapped in the three apartments engulfed in flames,^[28] and commentators speculated about the structural integrity of the building.^[28] There were also reports of debris, luggage, and fuel falling to street level and starting a minor fire there.

Reactions to the crash

The crash garnered extra attention because of superficial similarities to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City. U.S. officials said that NORAD scrambled fighter aircraft over numerous American and Canadian cities,^[29] including Ottawa from CFB Bagotville, for Combat Air Patrol, and that U.S. President George W. Bush was informed about the situation, but that these were precautionary measures only.^[28] The FBI quickly announced there was no reason to suspect that the crash was an act of terrorism.^[30]

News of the crash caused a momentary 0.4% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) before the market decided the incident did not have financial implications. The Dow regained its prior level 20 minutes later.^[31]

LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport did not experience delays from the crash. Police cordoned off a several block area at the peak of the confusion, but subway and ferry services continued without interruption.

The FAA initially imposed a temporary flight restriction on an area within one nautical mile (1.9 km) of the scene, from ground to 1,500 feet (457 m) altitude. This restriction, routine for emergency scenes, was lifted the next day.^[32] Governor Pataki called for permanent restrictions.^[12]

On October 13, 2006, two days after the crash, the FAA banned all fixed-winged aircraft from the East River corridor unless they are in contact with local air traffic control. The new rule, which took effect immediately, required all small aircraft, with the exception of helicopters and certain seaplanes, to seek approval of and stay in contact with air traffic control while in the corridor.^[33] The FAA cited safety concerns, especially unpredictable winds from between buildings, as the reason for the change.^[10]

NTSB investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched a six member "Go Team" from Washington, D.C. to New York City on October 11,^[34] arriving that evening to take fuel samples and examine clues found in the debris, including the bent propeller, a charred memory chip, the undeployed parachute^[35], and Lidle's flight log book.^[36] The NTSB accident number is DCA07MA003.^[37]

NTSB investigation results

Consistent with the 3 November 2006 preliminary report, the NTSB's May 1, 2007 final hearing determined that "pilot error" caused the plane crash that killed Lidle and his flight instructor Tyler Stanger. The investigation was unable to determine which person was at the controls. The aircraft had only about 1,700 feet of width in which to make the 180 degree turn but this distance was effectively reduced to 1,300 feet by the 13 knot Easterly winds that day. A bank angle of at least 53 degrees was required at turn initiation to successfully execute a 180 degree turn in this distance, which did not occur. As the turn progressed, bank angle would need to be increased possibly resulting in a stall, but the investigation was unable to determine if the plane was actually in a stall condition at the time of the crash. An animation of the flight path combining radar data with a Coast Guard video of the East River was presented.^{[38][39][40][9]}

References

See also

• 2006 in aviation
• September 11 2001 attacks

External links

• Small aircraft hits building in Manhattan (The New York Times)
• Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle killed in UES plane crash (WABC-TV)
• Aircraft crashes into NYC building (MSNBC)
• Airplane crashes into Manhattan high-rise (CNN)
• Yankee's Lidle killed in plane crash (TSN)
• U.S. Stocks Extend Drop on Report of Small Plane Crash in N.Y. (Bloomberg)
• Treasuries briefly pare losses on plane crash report (Reuters)
• Olshan Realty ad for Apt 43DE at 524 East 72nd Street; includes pictures
• Building's entry on Emporis.com
• International news reports on crash
• NTSB Preliminary Brief
• Template:Fr Analysis at Journal des accidents et des catastrophes
• N929CD profile with photos