Plane Hits N.Y. Apartment Building
Crash Leaves 2 Dead(CBS) NEW YORK A small plane crashed into a high-rise Wednesday afternoon in New York City, raining down debris on Manhattan and unleashing what witnesses reported was a gigantic fireball, police said.
The aircraft was a small plane, according to reports from CBS affiliate WCBS-TV in New York. Two deaths have been reported.
FBI officials say indications suggest the crash was an accident, not a terrorist attack, according to WCBS.
The aircraft struck the 40th and 41st floors of the Belaire apartment building on East 72nd Street, said Fire Department spokeswoman Emily Rahimi. Witnesses said the crash caused a loud noise, and burning and falling debris was seen. Flames were seen shooting out of the windows.
CBS News reports the aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft, not a helicopter. The time recorded for the crash was 2:45 p.m.
The aircraft was not required to be in contact because it was flying under VFR (visual flight rules), reports CBS News.
The Federal Aviation Administration only confirms that a "small plane" crashed into a 22-story apartment building on East 72nd Street. They have not confirmed reports that it was a helicopter, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr. The crash site is near a heliport.
A federal official tells CBS News that fighter jets have been scrambled to protect New York and Boston airspace.
Gordon McMahon, who lives in a nearby apartment building, witnessed the accident and said he heard a strange sound just before the impact.
"The sound before the impact - really we hear a lot of choppers around here - and the sound did not have the normal sound of a chopper," said McMahon. "It sounded more like a firework, as if it's going up into the air.
"Before the impact, it was sort of a buzzing sound," he said. "I was reading something, and then heard that sound and then the impact and then saw the fireball."
"There's huge pieces of debris falling," said one witness who refused to give her full name. "There's so much falling now, I've got to get away."
The North American Aerospace Defense Command launched fighter jets over "numerous" U.S. cities in response to today's plane crash in New York City.
However, NORAD will not disclose the number of planes that have been launched, nor the cities in which they'll fly over or how they determine which cities they fly over.
The address of the building is 524 E. 72nd Street - a 50-story condominium tower built in 1986 and located nearby Sotheby's Auction House. It has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million.
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