Plane crashes into East Side building

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Plane crashes into East Side building

A aircraft has crashed into a residential building on the Upper East Side of the city, officials said.

Fire Department spokeswoman Emily Rahimi said an aircraft struck the 20th floor of the building on East 72nd Street and York Avenue. Witnesses said the crash caused a loud noise, and burning and falling debris was seen. Flames were seen shooting out of the windows.

"There's huge pieces of debris falling," said one witness who refused to give her full name. "There's so much falling now, I've got to get away."

Aerial views of the crash site showed a thick cloud of smoke spreading over the East Side. A fuel spill from the plane is causing fire on the ground.

It was not immediately known if it was terrorism. NORAD said it was not tracking the aircraft, however the FBI is sending two squads from joint terrorism forces.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was too early to determine what type of aircraft was involved, or what might have caused the crash in the middle of a hazy October afternoon.

Witness Sarah Steiner, who lives one block away, told CNN that "The fire was raging out of two windows on approximately the 30th floor. ... They are evacuating the building."

The building, located at 524 E. 72nd Street, has been identified as the Bel Aire building. The 50-story condominium tower was built in 1986 and is located nearby Sotheby's Auction House. It has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million.

Firetrucks are on the scene and at least two dozen firefighters have entered the building, according to witnesses.

There have been no reports of injuries and no airports are reporting planes missing, according to television reports.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

At least there had been no injuries

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

I just saw this on CNN a few minutes ago. Supposably 4 people died and 4+ were said to be injured.

Edit: Now they are saying 2 fatalities.

[raksmey1309]

Meh that stupid baseball dude that fly the plane just dont know what to do with his money from hell.See he is super star kill himself and 4 people.:S

[shafeen]

pilot mistake or something else??