Small Plane Hits New York City Building

 

Updated: 03:41 PM EDT

Small Plane Hits New York City Building

By COLEEN LONG, AP

NEW YORK (Oct. 11) - A small plane crashed into a high-rise on the Upper East Side, raining down debris on Manhattan and unleashing what witnesses reported was a gigantic fireball, police said.

The aircraft struck the 20th floor of a building on East 72nd Street, said Fire Department spokeswoman Emily Rahimi. Witnesses said the crash caused a loud noise, and burning and falling debris was seen. Flames were seen shooting out of the windows.

"There's huge pieces of debris falling," said one witness who refused to give her full name. "There's so much falling now, I've got to get away."

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was too early to determine what type of aircraft was involved, or what might have caused the crash in the middle of a hazy October afternoon.

 Witness Sarah Steiner, who lives one block away, told CNN that "The fire was raging out of two windows on approximately the 30th floor. ... They are evacuating the building."

Whether anyone was injured was not known, and it was unclear if the crash was an act of terrorism. Firefighters rushed to the scene.

The address of the building is 524 E. 72nd Street - a 50-story condominium tower built in the late 1980s and located near Sotheby's Auction House. The Belaire Condo, developed by William Zeckendorf Jr., has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million.

10/11/06 15:27 EDT

Copyright 2006 The Associated