Results tagged “thentsb”

The National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report on the Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle's Cirrus plane crash into an Upper East Side building. From the NTSB: "The probable cause of a small airplane crash in Manhattan last October was the pilots' inadequate planning, judgment, and airmanship in the performance of a 180-degree turn maneuver inside of a limited turning space." The NTSB found no problems with the plane itself, and suggested that the plane could have made the turn, if they had aggressively banked the plane during the turn or made an illegal turn over buildings.

Radar data indicate that the airplane was flying over the east side of Roosevelt Island prior to initiating a 180 degree turn. At this location, there would have been a maximum of 2100 feet clearance from buildings, if the full width of the river had been used. However, from the airplane's mid-river position over Roosevelt Island, the available turning width was only 1700 feet. The prevailing wind from the east would have caused the airplane to drift 400 feet toward the building during the turn, reducing the available turning width to about 1300 feet. At an airspeed of 97 knots, this turn would have required a constant bank angle of 53 degrees and a loading of 1.7 Gs on the airplane. If the initial portion of the turn was not this aggressive, a sufficiently greater bank angle would have been needed as the turn progressed, which would have placed the airplane dangerously close to an aerodynamic stall.

The NTSB hasn't officially determined that the plane stalled, but suspects that was what happened. The NTSB stressed, "We haven't concluded that wind was the cause of the accident. ... To say it's being blamed or that's the cause of the accident is premature."

broadway-nassau by joe holmes.

A helicopter has crashed into a building on East 72nd. It was thought to be a small plane, but now reports say it is a helicopter. The helicopter seems to have crashed into 524 East 72nd Street, a residential apartment building. CNN is saying there are no reports of terrorism or hijacking.

Three Australian tourists who survived Monday's helicopter crash in the East River spoke to the media yesterday. Greg Fisher, Taryn Fay, and Mary Johnston explained what they went through, saying the seat belts were hard to unbuckle in the water. They even said they loved New York, even though the NY Times noted that they only did so "with sufficient prodding"; they were tightlipped about whether or not they had retained lawyers to, perhaps, sue Helicopter Flight Services, the company offering the tours. One said about the helicopter ride, "I thought it was going to be the best thing we'd do in New York." Far be it from Gothamist to dictate their feelings, but at least they survived. Newsday reports that although they are continuing their trip to Los Angeles, the three have scratched their plans to visit the Grand Canyon via helicopter.