ESPN.com is reporting that New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle died in a plane crash Wednesday afternoon.
A small plane piloted by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle crashed into a 50-story condominium tower Wednesday on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, killing at least four people, authorities said.
Lidle died in the crash.
The twin-engine plane came through a hazy, cloudy sky and hit the 20th floor of The Belaire — a red-brick tower overlooking the East River, about five miles from the World Trade Center — with a loud bang, touching off a raging fire that cast a pillar of black smoke over the city and sent flames shooting from four windows on two adjoining floors.
It has been reported that Lidle was the pilot of the small plane and was on a path that most experienced fliers would deem small and narrow to fly through. Lidle had his pilot license for only eight months before the crash.
At first, many people on the ground around Manhattan thought it was another Sept. 11 attack, but onlookers were quickly notified that it was a random accident. Most of the details are still a bit hazy.
Lidle pitched against the Detroit Tigers in the Yankees divisional playoff series just last week. He was 34 years old.
