Politicians want more N.Y. flight restrictions

updated 7:36 p.m. ET Oct. 12, 2006

NEW YORK - A day after the fiery plane crash that killed Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, politicians expressed shock that, five years after Sept. 11, small aircraft are still allowed to fly right up next to the New York skyline.

“I think everyone is scratching their head, wondering how it is possible that an aircraft can be buzzing around Manhattan,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., who has been lobbying for rule changes since 2004. “It’s virtually the Wild West. There is no regulation at all, other than, ‘Don’t run into anything.”’

The single-engine plane that carried Lidle to his death was flying over the East River, which separates Manhattan from Brooklyn and Queens and is lined on the Manhattan side by the United Nations building and scores of other skyscrapers.

It is one of the city’s busiest and most popular routes for sightseeing pilots, traffic helicopters and executives hopping from one business deal to the next, and it is largely unmonitored, as long as the aircraft stay below 1,100 feet.

Lawmakers have tried for years to close the corridor for reasons of safety and security.

Pataki calls for ‘tougher line’
Gov. George Pataki said Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration “needs to take a much tougher line” about private, or general aviation, flights over the city.

However, 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.”

All flights over New York were grounded after Sept. 11, but the restrictions were lifted three months later.

Much of the airspace over the two main rivers that encircle Manhattan — the East River and the Hudson River — is unrestricted for small aircraft flying under 1,100 feet. Planes and helicopters beneath that ceiling do not have to file a flight plan or check in with air traffic controllers, as long as they do not stray from the sky over the rivers.

Lidle’s final flight path
New York pilots said the path taken by Lidle’s Cirrus SR20 on Wednesday is one of the most exhilarating: The plane went down the Hudson River, looped around the Statue of Liberty at the foot of Manhattan, then went up the East River, with the Brooklyn Bridge below and the United Nations on the left.

General aviation aircraft are allowed to go about as far north as Manhattan’s 96th Street. There, they must either execute a U-turn to avoid the restricted airspace around LaGuardia Airport or get permission from air traffic control to climb higher and continue north or turn west over Central Park.

Lidle’s plane slammed into the 30th and 31st stories of a luxury apartment building overlooking the East River, just a short distance from that turnaround point. Radar data indicated that the plane had begun a left turn, a quarter-mile north of the building, just before the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

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