October 12, 2006

After crash, governor calls for tougher NYC air rules

Hours after New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor died when Lidle's single-engine Cirrus SR20 crashed into the high-rise condominium near the East River, Governor George Pataki was calling for tighter air restrictions around the city.

"It's just unfathomable that five years after September 11th, an inexperienced pilot can be circling the city and not under the control of any of the radar towers of the airports around the city,” Pataki told NY1.

Lidle and his instructor, Tyler Stanger of Walnut, Calif., had taken off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and were reportedly making a flight around the city before flying to California, where Lidle's also from.

The plane had circled the Statue of Liberty before heading up the East River to a spot many pilots avoid because if its dangers, according to the New York Times.

From the Times:

The northern end of the airspace over the East River is a treacherous, narrow corridor often filled with helicopters ferrying tourists, business people and traffic reporters along the edge of Manhattan. Small planes like Mr. Lidle’s are allowed to fly through the area at low altitude, but several pilots said they did not dare because it could be crowded. ...

To continue north beyond Roosevelt Island around 86th Street, pilots must radio the La Guardia control tower and seek permission. Controllers usually allow pilots to do so, and the Cirrus would probably have received such permission, said William S. McLoughlin, head of the La Guardia tower chapter of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

But many pilots choose to make a U-turn instead, several pilots said yesterday. Still, they said, reversing direction there , which normally involves a turn to the left, can be challenging. Yesterday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service, the wind was blowing from the east at 14 miles per hour, conditions that would have made the turn wider.

October 12, 2006 01:09 PM in Arrivology, Tours, Upper East Side

®Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved