Source cnn :
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/11/plane.crash/index.html
Cirrus SR20 crashes in Manhattan - NY
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"I looked up when I heard a low flying plane and saw it as it crashed. The rear half of the plane broke off and fell to the ground in flames. Glass sprayed out everywhere and people were screaming," he told the BBC.
Another eyewitness told the BBC: ''The plane levelled out and then the next thing I knew it disappeared behind the building and was gone.
"I said I can't believe that this is what I just saw and they kept saying it was a helicopter but it was a plane.''
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cageyjames
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SierraFoxtrotMike
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TCAS_climb
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Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, 34, was killed when a Cirrus SR20 (Lidle, a private pilot since February, purchased the aircraft in June) crashed into a Manhattan apartment building near the East River yesterday at about 3 p.m. Black smoke poured into the sky and fire blazed from the upper floors of the 50-story Belaire building. Late reports said an instructor in the airplane also died and up to 21 people, most of them firefighters, were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
The pilots in the Cirrus had reportedly been on a sightseeing flight in the area. They had taken off from Teterboro Airport, six miles east of New York, in nearby New Jersey, just 23 minutes before the crash. The airplane circled the Statue of Liberty then headed north up the East River. The VFR airspace beneath the Class B follows the river at 11-hundred feet and below, ending (dropping to the surface) north of the crash site. The VFR airspace in that area might be described as a box canyon with a roof. The corridor (and river) is roughly 2,000 feet wide, contains five bridges, Roosevelt Island, has tall buildings on both sides and often includes helicopter and sometimes seaplane traffic. Winds were reported ENE at 13, with gusts to 22. Witness reports suggest that the airplane had made a u-turn to the left from a northern heading. The aircraft hit the north face of the building, at about the 40th story, and broke apart.
The pilots in the Cirrus had reportedly been on a sightseeing flight in the area. They had taken off from Teterboro Airport, six miles east of New York, in nearby New Jersey, just 23 minutes before the crash. The airplane circled the Statue of Liberty then headed north up the East River. The VFR airspace beneath the Class B follows the river at 11-hundred feet and below, ending (dropping to the surface) north of the crash site. The VFR airspace in that area might be described as a box canyon with a roof. The corridor (and river) is roughly 2,000 feet wide, contains five bridges, Roosevelt Island, has tall buildings on both sides and often includes helicopter and sometimes seaplane traffic. Winds were reported ENE at 13, with gusts to 22. Witness reports suggest that the airplane had made a u-turn to the left from a northern heading. The aircraft hit the north face of the building, at about the 40th story, and broke apart.
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TCAS_climb
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A guy who was in the building said he saw the Cirrus approaching and trying to avoid it just seconds before impact. Obviously the crew failed...
Looks like one of those "base to final stalls" where people are so focused on the trajectory that they forget to check the speed, turn to final and stall at low altitude, crashing short of the runway. Except this time it's in downtown NY.
If the NTSB is lucky they'll be able to retrieve the data recorded in the Multifunction Flight Display and explain what happened. But that seems quite unlikely since the MFD is not protected like real black boxes, and the fire probably destroyed everything. Good luck to find out why they flew out of VFR airspace !
Looks like one of those "base to final stalls" where people are so focused on the trajectory that they forget to check the speed, turn to final and stall at low altitude, crashing short of the runway. Except this time it's in downtown NY.
If the NTSB is lucky they'll be able to retrieve the data recorded in the Multifunction Flight Display and explain what happened. But that seems quite unlikely since the MFD is not protected like real black boxes, and the fire probably destroyed everything. Good luck to find out why they flew out of VFR airspace !