Patrick, were you not aware a CFI was reported to be on board? There were also reports a Mayday call was received regarding a fuel problem.

Another possible scenario is that the engine began to sputter and they turned toward Teeterboro (field probably insight) then realized power and altitude began to decay to the point they realized they could not make the field; reversed course then found themselves frantically weaving between high rises trying to reach the east river. ...a sad error in judgment.

Hopefully the powers that be will not over react and use this accident to impose unreasonable restrictions on GA pilots.

The Cirrus SR20 seems to have some characteristics that make it less than ideal for inexperienced pilots... none of these jump out as a reason for this crash, but...

It needs to be flown fast, may be harder to handle in a stall than other small planes, and is virtually unrecoverable from spins. The parachute may instill a false sense of confidence in inexperienced pilots when the parachute actually doesn't have a very good track record so far in real world use (Cory Lidle apparently boasted of the safety of having a parachute). It has a lower ceiling than some other planes preventing pilots from flying above weather, and isn't certified for icing. It also has some good safety features, but these don't seem to overcome these faults.

Recommended review of this plane's flight characteristics: http://philip.greenspun.com/flying/cirrus-sr20

It does sound as though fog or poor visibility may have been a contributing factor.

I was also a low-time pilot at one time (haven't flown in years now, except commercially), and can attest that with this experience it's easy to get in trouble with a momentary lapse of attention or flying into marginal conditions. I no longer have current charts, but I'm surprised that the Hudson river VFR corridor reopened after 9/11. I would have guessed that it might have closed permanently.

Mr Smith raises the the possibility of pilots flying VFR and getting lost. Isn't that something that is now, almost completely preventable with modern technology - namely a GPS and a moving map - at reasonably modest cost?

Would it be reasonable at some point in the not too distant future to require all GA planes to be fitted with a GPS moving map?

are wonderful tools but they are not a panacea.

And Lidle's plane may have well been equipped with just that. Many GA aircraft these days come with what is known as a glass cockpit, where the traditional six pack of instruments is replaced with electronic displays.

In what's a typical glass arrangement, you've got a primary flight display, which contains all the information that was traditionally contained in the six pack. Then you've got another display which contains a GPS.

Here's an image of it.

http://www.taauk.net/images/stories/glass_cockpit.jpg

But all the glass and high tech equipment in the world can't help a pilot who's distracted and disoriented. You've got to process the information you're getting from the instruments and what you're seeing outside, regardless of what kind of instruments are in the cockpit.

...it's right up there with mountain climbing and such sports. Even very experienced pilots, including professional pilots, instructors etc, can make mistakes, get distracted. And the gods of flight can be very unforgiving if that mistake occurs at the wrong time.

My first instructor, a very capable woman with over 15 years of flight experience, died when her plane crashed into a mountainside while on an aerial photography job.

Flying in a busy urban airspace is very distracting and stressful. Add in weather constraints, and you have a potentially dangerous situation for any VFR pilot. For people who've never been up in a small plane (ie, four or six seater -- not those bigger 12+ seater commuter planes), it can be hard to relate to the potential disorientation when you're veering a tiny tin can across the sky.

One flight instructor of my acquaintance says that every new pilot makes a serious, potentially fatal, careless error somewhere between 100-300 flight hours. It's just enough experience to get overly confident about what they can handle, and they get sloppy or cocky. Most new pilots survive that first big mistake. A few don't.

It was overcast in Manhattan yesterday, but the clouds were high, and visibility was good. This was not a case of the plane emerging from mist to find a building just ahead. The entire island of Manhattan was in plain sight. Also, from the East River, where this crash occurred, you cannot see Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The view is blocked by Manhattan.

If Cory Lidle was flying solo or with a non-pilot passenger, Patrick's thesis could hold water. However, it seems Lidle was accompanied by a certified-to-type Flight Instructor, the scenario protrayed doesn't seem probable.

The SR-20 had a "glass-cockpit," and an experienced flight instructor would not have become confused.

It appears more likely to me, a catastrophic failure occurred to something in the primary flight control system, making the SR-20 uncontrollable. That "failure" could be as simple as a loss of a bolt or nut.

it's a "20 storey," not "story" building.

Pat, according to news reports, there was a flight instructor aboard.Does that not make your argument of pilot inexperience moot?

I'm confused. Are there any restrictions (save a license) against taking off in a small plane from Teterboro and zipping around the "dramatic panorama" of Manhattan? Not that I can imagine anyone intentionally crashing a flying Mini Cooper into a highrise.

I read "Gary in New York"'s post and it contained an excellent link to a pilot critique of Lidle's aircraft.. Most notable in this report was the criticism of the aircraft's flight control feel (stick feel). If it is true that the Cirrus flight control feedback does not provide the expected stick feel with change of airspeed, I can see where any pilot can get into major trouble and drop into a stall/spin accident quite easily! Here is the quote from Gary's link..it makes me speculate (especially after looking at the radar track of the aircraft) the sharp turn into the building could have been a drop-off into a spin..

"A high-time CFI friend of mine had the opportunity to buy a low-time SR20 for around $135,000 from a guy who was basically afraid to hand-fly the airplane (note to shoppers: look for people like this at your local airport!). Despite the unarguably fabulous value, he decided not to get the plane because he didn't like the springs. "I can feel the air load on the flight controls in a regular airplane," he noted. "And when I get a Cessna or Grumman slow the controls begin to feel sloppy so I know it is time to pitch down for some more airspeed. With the Cirrus there was still a lot of resistance from the springs even at zero airspeed so it was hard to tell whether I was feeling the air loads or the springs."

Interesting..