Investigators seek clues in plane crash

WASHINGTON -- The trip was supposed to be fun -- two young guys making their first trip from New York to California in a new airplane.

Instead, safety specialists say, new clues suggest inexperience, combined with a challenging flying environment, could have contributed to what went wrong aboard the small plane that crashed into a New York condominium tower Wednesday, killing Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor, Tyler Chase Stanger.

Records from the plane's manufacturer, Cirrus Design Corp., show that Stanger had not completed a five-day training course that the company requires for those who teach students how to fly its airplanes. Stanger, 26, has operated a flight-instructor service with Cessna planes in California for three years, but it was unclear how much experience he had with the Cirrus aircraft.

Those factors, combined with the fact that Lidle was a new pilot and the two were flying in a challenging section of airspace around Manhattan, are probably issues that safety investigators are narrowing in on, according to safety specialists. Lidle had registered the new plane just months earlier. The official cause of the crash, safety officials said, will probably not be known for months or years.

``Here you've got two guys relatively inexperienced in this type of airplane to start with," said Greg Feith, a former federal accident investigator. ``If something happens, you don't have a lot of background knowledge to draw upon."

Among the factors investigators are likely to consider, Feith said, is whether the pilot took evasive action to avoid some other object; whether there were mechanical issues with the plane; and why the plane was flying so slowly and descending just before impact.

Safety investigators yesterday combed several floors and outdoor terraces of the Belaire apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side, where the plane hit the 30th and 31st floors, resulting in a fire that destroyed several units. Investigators said the examination of the engine indicated that the propellers were moving at the time of impact, suggesting that the plane's engine was operating.

The plane was not in communication with air-traffic controllers at the time of the accident, and was not required to be, in the low-altitude area along the Hudson and East rivers.

`` The biggest challenge is the helicopter traffic," said Anthony Ripani, a local flight instructor.

Radar data revealed that the plane departed from Teterboro, N.J., and took what appeared to be a route common with pilots seeking spectacular views of the city. The plane flew first along the Hudson River, around the Statue of Liberty and then up the East River, turning left a quarter-mile north of the building it struck, traveling at 112 miles per hour.

The plane began its turn while flying at 700 feet, according to the NTSB, and the last radar data of the plane's location before impact showed it had descended to 500 feet. There was a light wind at the time and the air was hazy, with a cloud ceiling at 1,700 feet. Pilots who fly along the East River area must fly below 1,100 feet.