American baseball star, Cory Lidle, has died after his small aircraft crashed into a New York tower block.
The 34-year-old Yankees pitcher and his flying instructor were both killed with their plane hit the 52-storey apartment block in Manhattan. They were the only two people in the four-seater plane.
"This is a terrible and shocking tragedy that has stunned the entire Yankees organization," the Yankees’ owner, George Steinbrenner, said in a statement.
It is not yet known whether Lidle was flying the plane which took off from New Jersey airport on Wednesday. The plane, owned by Lidle, circled the Statue of Liberty before flying towards Manhattan.
Authorities say they are investigating the cause of the crash, which happened in overcast weather, as an accident.
Mr Lidle's plane took off from a New Jersey airport on Wednesday, circling the Statue of Liberty before flying towards Manhattan.
The baseball star was reported to have told the New York Times in September that he was not worried about flying accidents.
"If you're up in the air and something goes wrong, you pull that parachute, and the whole plane goes down slowly," he said.
The crash, which caused a fire upon impact with the building, brought back memories of the September 11th terrorist attacks to New York residents.
"Everybody was really shocked here, we thought of a terrorist attack. There was also a lot of noise and dust around here, causing an atmosphere of terror and fear," one witness said.
