Small Plane Crashed into NYC Building

Gothamist, among many others, is reporting that a plane has apparently crashed into a building on the upper east side--you can see the exact location on 72nd via Gothamist's Googlemap hack. Currently it is being reported as a helicopter that crashed into the building. You can see pictures at the Gothamist site (national news sites didn't have anything yet, but they've got screen captures from local news up on their site).

Update: From Gothamist:

City and the FDNY have confirmed that a helicopter crashed into the building. WABC 7 reports that the helicopter was flying in "exclusion airspace."

All local news channels have joined NY1 and CNN with live coverage. A witness told WNBC, "There's huge pieces of debris falling. There's so much falling now, I've got to get away." WCBS 2 reports that a helictoper had been in the air for a photography tour, "but there is NO confirmation that that is the aircraft which collided into the building."

CNN reports that air patrols are being deployed. And the FAA says it was a fixed wing aircraft that crashed into the building; NORAD says they were not tracking any aircraft.

Update: Now the NY Times is saying that the plane belonged to Yankees pitcher Cory Lidel, and that he died in the crash (his passport was found in the street?!?).

And just a month ago, there was a short AP piece (here's one link via the Delaware News Journal, scroll down to the bottom of the page) about how the Phillies didn't seem to like Lidel's flying habit, nor did the Yankee's once they aquired him:

Fly guy

The Phillies weren't enamored of pitcher Cory Lidle's hobby of flying a four-seat airplane.

But now that Lidle is with the Yankees, it's an especially sensitive topic.

In 1979, Yankees catcher Thurman Munson died when a plane he was piloting crashed near his home in Canton, Ohio. Lidle earned his pilot's license last offseason, and has insisted his plane is safe.

"The whole plane has a parachute on it," he told The New York Times. "Ninety-nine percent of pilots that go up never have engine failure, and the 1 percent that do usually land.

"But, if you're up in the air and something goes wrong, you pull that parachute, and the whole plane goes down slowly."

We gather there was neither time nor room for any parachute action in this particular situation...(thanks Seth for the Delaware News Journal tip).