2006 New York City Plane Crash - Crash Into The Building

Crash Into The Building

The plane hit the 30th-floor apartment numbered 40ABG, owned by Dr. Parviz Benhuri and his wife Ilana, the latter of whom was seated in the room when the plane crashed and sustained shrapnel injuries and burns. Her housekeeper was also present and helped her escape. Among the other residents of the mixed-use high-rise is novelist Carol Higgins Clark, a resident on the 38th floor, who was interviewed by CBS Radio after she arrived at the building shortly after the crash.

The Belaire has guest facilities for family members of patients at the Hospital for Special Surgery, to which it is connected via a causeway on the third floor. Hospital spokeswoman Phyllis Fisher reported that no patients were in the high-rise building and operations at the hospital across the street were not affected.

WNBC-TV reported that the aircraft had departed from Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, New Jersey, at 2:29 pm local time (18:29 UTC). According to multiple reports, Lidle planned on flying to Tennessee, where he had a hotel room booked for the night, then to Dallas, Texas and finally on to his home in California. There was no indication that the aircraft's Ballistic Recovery Systems emergency parachute, designed to bring the small plane down safely, was deployed. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said the plane circled the Statue of Liberty before flying north up the East River and disappeared from radar near the Queensboro Bridge. The FAA confirmed that the plane was flying under visual flight rules (VFR) and had attracted no special attention from air traffic controllers or NORAD before the crash. The aircraft took a hard U-shaped turn before it hit the building.