That was my immediate thought when I read the message that popped up on my blackberry, “Plane hits building in NYC.” I froze. My heart sank. I went numb. Then I hit my laptop looking for intel. Where else but CNN.com? My blood pressure returned to normal levels when I saw the picture of a small crash site accompanied by amplifying data like “small plane”, “accident”, and “terrorism not suspected.” I’m pretty sure I was breathing normally again. I read the article again and the pilot in me started to digest what little detail was known.
The pilot made an emergency call just prior to the crash stating he had some sort of fuel emergency. The plane involved was a Cirrus SR20, a general aviation aircraft equipped with a relatively new safety device called a ballistic parachute which apparently was not deployed. Unfortunately there is only one person who knows for certain what happened and he didn’t survive the crash. Perhaps the NTSB investigation will be able to determine the cause.
NORAD did scramble fighters which took up CAP stations over several cities as a precautionary measure. For several minutes the nation held its collective breath. No threat materialized and the fighters returned to their bases.
Just a tragic crash with unanswered questions. But then there’s the North Korean situation. We live in dangerously interesting times indeed.
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