Aircraft Hits New York Building

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Aircraft hits New York building

Two people have died after a small aircraft crashed into a high-rise apartment building in New York City's affluent Upper East Side.

The plane was owned by New York Yankees baseball pitcher Cory Lidle. US media reports say he was piloting the plane at the time and died in the crash.

The plane's impact caused a fireball, which set the 50-storey building on Manhattan island ablaze.

The FBI says there is no indication that the crash is terrorism-related.

The New York Fire Department said the aircraft struck the 20th floor of the building on East 72nd Street and York Avenue - identified as the Belaire, a prestigious residential tower.

Local resident Mark Schaffer told the BBC News website that he saw the moment the plane hit from his building across the street.

"I looked up when I heard a low flying plane and saw it as it crashed," Mr Schaffer said. "The rear half of the plane broke off and fell to the ground in flames. Glass sprayed out everywhere and people were screaming."

Both of the people known to have died were on board the plane, officials said.

Lidle's passport had been found at the scene of the crash, a police official said. But New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg refused to confirm the identities of those killed.

He stressed that the incident appeared to be an accident.

"There is nothing to suggest that anything remotely like terrorism was involved in this," he told a news conference.

9/11 flashbacks

Nonetheless fighter planes were scrambled over several cities across the US in the aftermath of the crash.

And the incident has evoked memories of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center for many New Yorkers.

Witness Joshua Asquith told the BBC news website: "Everybody was really shocked here, we thought of a terrorist attack. There was also a lot of noise and dust around here, causing an atmosphere of terror and fear."

Roger Gosden, another eyewitness, told the BBC that "everyone in the street looked up [after hearing the crash], perhaps having flashbacks of 9/11".

On Wall Street, stocks initially fell on news of the crash, but quickly recovered when it became clear that the incident was most likely an accident.

The impact of the plane caused a loud noise and sent burning debris plummeting down onto the street below.

Emergency workers rushed to the scene, while firefighters shot streams of water at the flames from the lower floors.

The flames have now been put out, although BBC correspondent Guto Harri in Manhattan said fire engines, police cars and ambulances are still blocking nearby roads.

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