Wednesday, October 11, 2006

NEW YORK


NEW YORK (Reuters) - At least two people were killed when a small aircraft crashed into a 52-story building on Manhattan's Upper East Side on Wednesday in what appeared to be an accident, officials said.
The four-seat plane was owned by Yankees baseball pitcher Cory Lidle, sources at the New York police department told Reuters. The FAA confirmed the plane was owned by Lidle, 34. CNN said the pilot of the plane was Lidle and he was believed to have been killed.
U.S. and New York officials said they had no reason to believe the crash, which occurred in overcast weather, was relateditorial/el'foo','allowscriptaccess','alwa A New York police department spokeswoman said the crash killed two people and possibly more.
Military fighter jets patrolled several U.S. cities as a precaution, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said.
"NORAD fighters are airborne over numerous cities. They are airborne now as a prudent measure," said NORAD spokeswoman Kyle Combs. She did not say which cities were being patrolled, or how many, but added the fighters were sent up right after the plane crashed into the building.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks extended losses but quickly recovered once it became clear the crash was not an attack similar to the hijacked plane attacks of September 11, 2001.
"We have no reason to believe at this point that it is terrorist related," said New York City Police Chief Michael Collins. Continued...

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