Plane crashes into NYC building!?!

[time builder]

Just like the Jerk who ripped up Meigs field in Chicago, the mayor of NYC wants to ban GA over Manhattan because we're so worried about what a small plane flying VFR can do to a skyscraper. This is nuts.

 

[deadstick]

Watching the 4:30 briefing. This is the same member who was at the Comair accident...

Member Hersman is a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician. She holds a commercial drivers license with passenger, school bus, and air brake endorsements. She successfully completed a motorcycle basic rider course and holds a motorcycle endorsement.

Before joining the Board, Member Hersman was a Senior Professional Staff Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation from 1999 to 2004 where she was responsible for the legislative agenda, oversight and policy initiatives for surface transportation issues, including economic and safety regulation of railroads, truck and bus safety, pipeline safety, and hazardous materials transportation safety. She worked extensively on the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, the Transportation Equity Act of the 21 st Century, the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act, and numerous transportation safety and security measures.

Prior to her appointment to the Senate Commerce Committee staff, she served as Staff Director and Senior Legislative Aide to Congressman Bob Wise of West Virginia from 1992 to 1999.

Member Hersman earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and International Studies from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, in 1992, and a Master of Science degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1999.

 

[ATR-DRIVR]

Whew! Boy for a minute I thought she wasn't qualified for "aviation"..... Cleared that right up....

 

[Huck]

But she's hot....

 

[SweatHog]

Im NOT making this up: On one media report, they said that "they" (pilot and passenger) were on a sightseeing flight and the "Flight Instructor" was.....well ........female. Not that there's anything wrong with that!!

 

[ackattacker]

I used to instruct in that area and routinely took students on hudson river tours.

The east river I did ONCE and never again. It is like flying up a box canyon. The corridor dead ends so you have to turn around and it is tight... bridges and buildings everywhere.

Unfortunately I can easily see how this could happen if the conditions were marginal... and the flight instructor was from California with 900 hours, probably not real familiar. Sad.

 

[wt219200]

The instructor was a guy and his name has been released.
Also I think we can kiss the Hudson River VFR corridor goodbye based on the ****storm the media has brought upon it. But if it is unsafe like ack says above maybe its for the best.

 

[ackattacker]

The instructor was a guy and his name has been released.
Also I think we can kiss the Hudson River VFR corridor goodbye based on the ****storm the media has brought upon it. But if it is unsafe like ack says above maybe its for the best.

These guys were not in the Hudson River corridor... they were in the East River corridor. I don't think it's unsafe necessarily just tricky and not for fast planes, better for helicopters. The Hudson River Corridor is great. The East River corridor gets real narrow real fast. Pull up Google Earth and take a look at where 72nd street is. It's directly across from Roosevelt Island. Now pull up a terminal area chart for NY (you can get one online at:
http://maps.myairplane.com/default.asp)

At the point where they were presumably trying to turn around the river is only 825 feet wide! If you are doing 120 knots in a Cirrus good luck!

edit: PS guys in the know would get a helicopter chart, which has named routes crisscrossing all over and get a clearance from the East River to cross over central park instead of trying to turn around.

 

[JCJ]

Just like the Jerk who ripped up Meigs field in Chicago, the mayor of NYC wants to ban GA over Manhattan because we're so worried about what a small plane flying VFR can do to a skyscraper. This is nuts.

Gotta disagree here. Go to the MSNBC story http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15239970/ and look at the video link of the Coast Guard footage of the crash. After the CG video, there are comments from Mayor Bloomberg that are really pretty reasonable IMHO. The other pols may be off base, though.

 

[ackattacker]

Gotta disagree here. Go to the MSNBC story http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15239970/ and look at the video link of the Coast Guard footage of the crash. After the CG video, there are comments from Mayor Bloomberg that are really pretty reasonable IMHO. The other pols may be off base, though.

Yep, I thought Bloomberg's comments have been entirely reasonable. If I'm not mistaken he is a private pilot. But he will be fighting an uphill battle to protect the VFR corridor.

 

[Rally]

I have flown the Hudson twice going from Fl to MA however I did not see a problem. I did sorta see a problem with the east river, I did'nt even think it was open to fixed aircraft. I thought it was just for helicopters, guess I was wrong.

 

[Fearless Tower]

The altitude and space available (particularly the 'boxed canyon' design of it as ackattacker mentioned) in the East River corridor would imply that it is intended for helos, but as far as I know there is nothing written that prevents a fixed wing from flying there.....I would imagine that is going to change.

 

[Fearless Tower]

Just like the Jerk who ripped up Meigs field in Chicago, the mayor of NYC wants to ban GA over Manhattan because we're so worried about what a small plane flying VFR can do to a skyscraper. This is nuts.

Latest ariticle on CNN:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a recreational pilot with decades of experience, said he believes the skies are safe under the current rules.
"We have very few accidents for an awful lot of traffic," he said. "Every time you have an automobile accident, you're not going to go and close the streets or prohibit people from driving."

I don't see how you could possibly compare Mayor Bloomberg with that turd from Chicago.

 

[deadstick]

It's the NY governor who's the problem.

 

[PC12Cowboy]

what was the instructors name and who did he work for?