Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Small Aircraft Crashes Into New York City Residential Building

Aired October 11, 2006 - 14:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We apologize for breaking out of that report there from A.J. Hammer. We'll get back to it. But we're getting word via WABC, we're getting live pictures here of WABC as well -- a foggy day in New York City -- that a small plane has crashed into a building in Manhattan. We're told it's East 71st Street.

We're trying to -- you can see the visual. You can see the smoke, and you can see where that plane has hit. These pictures coming to us, once again, from WABC. As you can imagine, when the producer came in my ear and said we're getting word of a plane crashing into a building in Manhattan, my heart sunk. Of course, the first thing you think of is 9/11 and what's happening.

But we are being told, as you can see here, through our live pictures now, through our CNN camera, that a small plane has crashed into a building on East 71st Street there in Manhattan. We're told it's a small plane. Not quite sure of the circumstances at this point. We're trying to find out where that plane was coming from, who was on board that plane, who was piloting that plane.

Once again, we have gotten no word of any type of tie to terrorism at this point, but we're going to stay with this live picture, and we're going to continue to work all the details that we can right now.

If you're just tuning in, live pictures now via our affiliate WABC in New York. We're getting reports that a small plane has crashed into a building on East 71st Street in New York City right there in Manhattan.

And once again, I want to make it perfectly clear that we have no word yet whether this plane was hijacked in any way or if this is associated at all with terrorism. But as you can imagine, these pictures, this visual, just getting word of this in my ear through our producers that are finding out the information. Just as soon as they're getting it, they're giving it to me. We are ...

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And this East 71st Street, Upper East Side of Manhattan. Again, as we know, New York is a vertical city. People live in high-rises there. So people work and live in the area. You can see aircraft still flying in the area.

I want to take this opportunity to welcome our international viewers. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, 11:52 a.m. Pacific Time here in the U.S., and we're getting word that a small plane crashed into a building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on East 71st Street.

Our New York bureau is working the story, of course, and our bureaus throughout the country, throughout the world, really, are checking this out. And then we have our very own Jason Carroll from the New York bureau who is on the way to the scene.

And, of course, Kyra, these pictures, as you said, are being provided to us from WABC, which is our New York affiliate. You've got two shots there. I'm not exactly sure of the vantage point. I would imagine it looks like one is pointing towards the East River, because the buildings go out of view there. And then you have one pointing away, which would be west. It looks like maybe towards the Hudson.

But on the Upper East Side of Manhattan there, East 71st Street. I'm trying to remember -- I lived there for awhile -- exactly what's there. You have a number of media companies there. You have Fox who's there.

A little bit further down, you have Rockefeller Center, which NBC News is located in, but that's really sort of on the West Side. But obviously, a number of businesses there. And you can see, it's a cloudy day in Manhattan, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Right. Obviously, it's the fog. And we just want to make it clear that although, when we got word that this small plane crashed into a building there in Manhattan, that we in no way, shape or form are hearing anything about ties to terrorism or that this plane was hijacked. We know it's a foggy day. The weather isn't, as you can see, bearing for perfect flying conditions.

And you can even see a helicopter, it looks like, circling over. You're seeing a number of aircraft actually now, possibly two helicopters circling that area just above the Upper East Side on East 71st Street where this small plane has crashed into a building there in Manhattan.

LEMON: And there is another building we're getting from another one of our affiliates. Hopefully we'll have pictures of that soon, but there is a fire also in a high-rise building in Manhattan which appears to be a residential building, a fire there.

Not exactly sure of the location of that fire, but the pictures that we are looking at are from the Upper East Side of Manhattan where you see smoke pouring from two vantage points from the same building and then again, as I said, one of our affiliates is reporting and also has pictures that we're trying to get in to you here of a fire in a building also in Manhattan. It appears to be a residential building.

PHILLIPS: We're also getting word now that we're not sure if this is a small aircraft or a helicopter that has crashed into this building. I'm getting an exact location now, 72nd and York. That is what we are being told. 72nd and York in Manhattan is where either a small aircraft of some type or a helicopter has crashed into this building.

LEMON: And 72nd and York, York is really almost the furthest street over. Over from that, you'd have the East River Drive or the Harlem River Drive, which would be as far east as you can get in Manhattan. But York residentially, really, is as far east as you can get. That's happening there.

And a lot of this coming out of the information that we are getting is coming in from a spokesperson from -- a New York City detective from the New York City Police Department. She's saying a small aircraft -- they're not saying whether it was an airplane, again, as Kyra said, or a helicopter, but apparently crashed into a building at East 71st Street.

PHILLIPS: According to a couple of other New York affiliates, they have been able to get a visual on where this happened. They're saying that a number of apartments are completely engulfed in flames. As you know, there in New York City, everything is combined.

These apartments, flats, side to side by a bunch of businesses. You were mentioning Fox Network, also Rockefeller Center not far from that area. A lot of businesses, as well as living conditions.

And we're now being told through some other affiliates that they're seeing a number of apartments completely engulfed in flames. We don't have a close shot of where that aircraft hit yet. We just have these two, one via our camera and WABC.

And I know you're monitoring some other affiliates, Don. I don't know if you're able to see anything visually that might add to what we are able to report through the affiliates and what we can see.

LEMON: Yes, but it appears to be a residential tower, as I said, on one of the upper floors of the residential tower, so I'm not exactly sure. And I'm not exactly sure if this is not the same building except that, you know, this is a closer shot that you see flames pouring out. And, of course, if you see the smoke, you know, where there's fire, obviously, there's smoke.

So this could be the same building but, again, they said York and 71st Street, is that right? York and 72nd Street, rather. That's almost as far east as you can get if you live in Manhattan in that area without going out, obviously, into the East River.

PHILLIPS: And according -- we're seeing -- I'm getting word from a number of our reporters in New York that affiliates there are reporting it's a helicopter that has crashed, not a small plane. But we still can't confirm that yet. Obviously, some are reporting a small plane, some are reporting a helicopter.

You can see that there are other helicopters that are airborne above where that -- some type of aircraft crashed into this building. So it could have been -- I mean, there's a lot of different aircraft that are always up in the sky. If you live there in New York, you know there are police helicopters, fire helicopters. There are also -- tourists take helicopter rides through the city when they're there on vacation.

LEMON: Kyra, why don't we bring in Randi Kaye, who is also based in New York.

And Randi, are you there? As I understand, you just crossed the Triborough Bridge into Manhattan?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm actually at the end here. I'm actually leaving Manhattan. We had quite a bit of traffic coming up. I'm heading out to JFK Airport, John F. Kennedy Airport out on the island. So as we were making our way through, we were hearing initial reports on one of the local radio stations. And if you looked up, as we did, you could see the building.

There was smoke pouring out of it. And also, you can see the bright orange flames sort of from the middle floor of the building. It was a building that looked to be probably about 30 stories, a high- rise building. The flames were somewhere in the middle of that. I couldn't exactly tell which floor.

LEMON: And Randy, we're getting live video of exactly what you're saying there. We see the flames. It appears to be four windows inside. That would -- it could be one unit, it could be two, a bi-level unit. But, again, which floor does it look like, about how high?

KAYE: Right, it was somewhere in the middle floors of this high- rise building, this residential high-rise. And then as we went across the Triborough Bridge, making our way out of Manhattan and towards the airport, there were ambulances and police vehicles racing and the traffic coming from the opposite direction.

There were also helicopters both from local television and also looked like some just surveying what had happened, probably police helicopters, just checking out the damage there. But there have been some conflicting reports, as you know, of whether or not it might have been a small plane or a helicopter that hit that building.

And, as, Kyra, you were saying, there's a lot of helicopter tours that go around in that area, come very close to Manhattan. They take off from the Lower East Side in the 30s. And this is 71st Street on the East Side.

LEMON: Yes.

KAYE: So, it's really unclear at this point what it is, but you could see those flames burning brilliantly from where we were.

LEMON: And, when you look at this, Randi, and when you think about Manhattan in the 70s, that's really right about in the middle of the island there in midtown.

KAYE: Oh, sure.

LEMON: So, you're almost, you know, zero, pointed zero -- right into the middle of that.

And, look, just as we were saying, that's the East River you're looking at there. And this is the Triborough Bridge that Randi just crossed, that you were going -- not the Triborough Bridge. Sorry. That's the Queensboro Bridge, the 59th Bridge, that Randi just -- you crossed the Triborough Bridge, right?

KAYE: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: We had crossed the Triborough.

And even though were we quite a distance away -- I mean, we were up in 100, 125th Street...

LEMON: Right.

KAYE: And you could still see how bright and large those flames were.

So, here in the middle of the day, you can only hope there was nobody inside those apartments. And, also, you have got the people down below. You know, New York City streets are crowded all the time. Every street in Manhattan is crowded.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Randi, let me just get something in real quickly. We're hearing from the FAA.

They're telling us it's a small general aviation plane. So, it looks it's not a helicopter. FAA is saying it is a small aircraft -- a small airplane, rather. So, now we will try and find out if -- you know, who was piloting, how many people on board.

And, also, I mean, if you look to where -- from where you are, Randi, can you can't -- are you close enough to where you can see if there's anything on the ground? I mean, what we're trying to figure out is if that entire aircraft is engulfed in flames inside that building right now.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Right.

KAYE: Right. I'm already out of the city. So, I can't see.

LEMON: Yes.

KAYE: I'm not close enough to see that anymore.

But it does make you wonder, though, why -- you know, why was a small plane like this so close to one of these buildings, and what might have brought it to close?

PHILLIPS: Deb Feyerick joining us now on the set in New York.

Randi, thank you so much.

Deb, what have you been able to ascertain from where you are? And what can you see? And are you able to monitor a number of other local affiliates there?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this is what I'm being told right now by a police source.

That is, this was a multi-engine small plane. Now, apparently fuel from that plane has spilled down. So, there is not only fire there that you see, but there's also some fire on the ground. This, I'm told by a police source, is a residential building. The plane hit about midway in the building. It is 20 stories. This is around the 10th story.

So, it hit right smack in the middle of this residential apartment building. It is on East 72nd Street and York. That is right next to the river, as you can probably make out from those pictures. There is fire on the ground. There -- this is a huge response right now. The NYPD is responding. The fire department is responding. Federal agents are making their way up to the scene of this crash.

Everybody is trying to figure out exactly what is happening, and why exactly this plane hit this building -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Is that plane completely -- is -- is it inside? Is there any parts of that aircraft, do you know, that are on the ground or did the plane go directly in there, and the whole aircraft is engulfed?

FEYERICK: Well, I spoke to a high-level police official. And, right now, they're making their way up to that scene.

So, it is not clear whether, in fact, the plane did get into that apartment. Again, we can't tell how large those windows are. So, we don't know whether part of the plane went into the building, whether it hit and it fell on the ground.

But, again, I am being told that there was some sort of fuel spill also, so that there is fire on the ground as well. That is what I'm being told by a police official now making their way up to the scene of this crash.

PHILLIPS: All right, now, here's another concern. And we learned this from 9/11. And that is, how old is this structure? How sound is this structure? Firefighters, of course, are going to want to work -- get everybody out of that building. We still don't know how many people are in that building, right, Deb, and how many people were on that 10th level.

So, now comes the efforts to get everybody out of there, with hopes that that building will sustain itself, and not become a danger zone for rescue workers and those trying to escape.

FEYERICK: That's exactly right.

I mean, that is first priority, get anybody who is in the building out of the building. And, in this kind of case, officials will tell you, because of what happened on 9/11, what you are going to begin to see also is some sort of a self-evacuation.

Now, this is a residential building, Kyra. So, keep that in mind. The World Trade Center, obviously, that had strategic value to it. This is a residential building. It is on the East River.

And to situate those of our viewers who don't live in New York, the planes from the World Trade Center came down the Hudson River, which, effectively, is between New York and New Jersey. The East River is between New York -- that is Manhattan -- and then Brooklyn and Queens, if you think of Manhattan as an island. So, it came down the opposite river.

It is unclear -- you can see it is very foggy today in New York, very warm, very humid -- as to whether weather had some sort of a role in this particular plane accident.

LEMON: And, Deb, you know what? We're going to bring Miles O'Brien, who is a CNN "AMERICAN MORNING" anchor and also an aviation expert.

Miles, before we talk to you, we will situate people. You heard Deb say that this is sort of the middle of the island. This is right on the East River that separates Manhattan and Queens, about as far east, really, as you can get residentially -- and this brick structure there, obviously, again, a residential building.

Miles, from your vantage point, can you see anything?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now I'm in the city, but I'm not able to see anything, Don.

I will tell you this. I don't want to completely contradict Deb there, but the weather here is not as bad as it sounds. The ceiling is 1,800 feet, which means that an aircraft above 1,800 feet would be in the clouds. But, if you were below the clouds, which is where this -- certainly, the altitude of this collision occurred, the visibility is upwards of eight miles right now. So, there is actually a fair amount of visibility beneath the cloud deck.

So, I would be -- I would put weather a little bit lower on the category of -- in the categories of possibilities in this case.

There is, around Manhattan, some places for general aviation, small aircraft, to fly below certain altitudes above the Hudson River, up to a little bit into the East River. But there are all kinds of temporary flight restrictions that are put in place, and have been in place, in and around the United Nations location, which is in the -- the 30s or 40s on the East Side.

And, so, it's -- it's highly unlikely that a VFR -- when I say VFR, visual flight rules -- an aircraft without a flight plan would be in that particular piece of airspace...

LEMON: Hey, Miles...

O'BRIEN: ... with permission from the FAA. LEMON: ... I hate to interrupt you.

Can -- can you see our pictures from where you are now? Can you see the pictures...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: No, I'm sorry, I can't. I'm driving right now. And I'm listening to you.

LEMON: It is like four -- it's -- it's four windows, two stories, in a residential building. If we're talking about a multi- engine small plane -- and we can't see the plane from our vantage point -- possible that -- that most of the plane is still inside of that building?

O'BRIEN: Well, yes, I -- like I say, I'm not seeing the pictures right now. But, you know, depending on the speed with which it hit, it's -- you know, it is probably very likely that it might be in -- inside the building.

LEMON: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And we also want to make a point, Miles, too, real quickly, talking with our -- our sources within NORAD, as you know, they're the ones that scramble jets if, indeed, they feel that an aircraft is a threat to homeland defense, to anybody here in the United States.

And we are being told that NORAD was not tracking this aircraft. It was not of interest to them. They didn't believe. They didn't get any calls that it was a hijacked aircraft, or that it was going to cause -- it didn't alert -- they were not on alert with regard to this aircraft.

So, if people are wondering could this have been someone that -- that hijacked this aircraft, could it be related to -- to terrorism, all we can tell you is that our sources within NORAD say that they were not tracking this aircraft, it was not of interest, and they did not scramble any jets.

O'BRIEN: I think it is worth pointing out, though, that the -- the way the airspace is structured here in New York, there are these floors beneath which general aviation can fly, small airplanes can fly.

You can fly up and down the Hudson River at 1,000 feet all day long. And you -- you just get on a radio, and you self-report to each other. You do this in good weather, and you do this within certain rules. You -- you go south down the west side and north up the east side of the river. That's, you know, kind of how the flow goes.

And, so, it is quite possible an airplane could get pretty close to Manhattan and to this building without having any communication with the FAA, without having any air traffic control contact, and not being -- raising any suspicion whatsoever. Now, you know, one of the things you might want to look at in this case is the potential of pilot incapacitation.

LEMON: Right. Right.

O'BRIEN: Was there a plane that was there for perfectly good reason, the pilot had a heart attack, a small enough plane that that there was only the pilot on board, perhaps veered in?

There have been cases -- we have seen cases -- we saw it in Tampa right after 9/11. We saw it in Italy a year or so ago -- I think it was two years ago -- of pilots who have committed suicide using airplanes, for one reason or another. So, those are all possibilities that we need to consider at this moment.

LEMON: Hey, Miles, just hang on. Don't go anywhere.

We just want to update our viewers, in case they are just joining us, wondering what is going on.

Just about 10, 15 minutes ago, we got word that a small plane had crashed into a residential building on New York's Upper East Side, 72nd and York. And what you're looking at now are the pictures from what is going on.

We're hearing that it was a small multi-engine plane. And from one of our reporters, they are saying that some of the fuel from that plane has spilled down on to the ground. And, so, there is some sort of a scene on the ground. And you can see what is happening in the upper floors of this building.

PHILLIPS: And we're also getting word now -- this plays right into our word that we got from NORAD, from 1st Air Force. As you know, NORAD patrols and protects the skies, trying to prevent any type of threat to the United States.

You will remember, on 9/11, that's when Air Force jets were scrambled to try and intercept those hijacked aircraft. We were able to talk to them, our sources within NORAD. And they are saying that this aircraft was not of interest to them. They were not tracking it.

And, then, we're also getting word now -- OK. We're getting -- we're trying to confirm some other information about not having any indications of terrorism.

Meanwhile, we wanted to -- Sarah Steiner is there on the scene. She lives right close to where this building is, actually, just one block away.

Sarah, can you describe what you're seeing there, first of all, from the ground? Because we understand there's a fuel spill, and firefighters have had to respond to that, as fire is not only taking place inside the building, but also on the ground.

SARAH STEINER, WITNESS: Yes, there are some fires burning on the ground. I have been moved out of the way. So, I can't see what they're doing.

(AUDIO GAP) fire department response. It's a fuel spill on cars (AUDIO GAP) similar things. What I can see is the building.

PHILLIPS: OK. So, you're able to see the building. And -- and can you -- can you see any parts of the aircraft? Does it look -- can you see anything...

STEINER: Oh, it looks as if the aircraft, what didn't go into the building fell down, and that may be part of what the debris is that's burning on the ground.

When I got here a few minutes ago, the fire was raging out of two windows on approximately the 30th floor. It's a red brick luxury condo building in the neighborhood. And...

PHILLIPS: Is it the Bel Air? Is that right, the Bel Air?

STEINER: Excuse me?

PHILLIPS: It is called the Bel Air? Is it -- the...

STEINER: I think it's called the -- I think it's called the Bel Air.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

STEINER: It's more towards the river. It's most of the way down from York Avenue toward the river.

There are two large buildings like that there. It -- the -- the fire is contained. It looks like it's contained in one unit. And it looks like it -- the plane just flew into someone's living room there. And...

PHILLIPS: Are you seeing firefighters enter the building yet? Have you been able -- and are people being...

STEINER: Yes. Firefighters have entered the building.

And the smoke has turned largely white, so, that I would say that they have some parts of the fire under control here. The fire is no longer blowing 30 feet or so out the windows.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Have people been evacuated? Can you see people being getting -- being brought out of the building?

STEINER: No. I don't have that view.

PHILLIPS: OK.

STEINER: They are evacuating the building though.

LEMON: All right. Hey, Sarah, don't go anywhere. We want to keep you around.

But we also want to go back to one of our reporters, who is in CNN's New York bureau, Deb Feyerick.

Deb, are you getting any new information from your -- in there?

FEYERICK: We're -- I'm working the sources now.

What we are again seeing is that the fire has now spread from the floor it began on to the floor below it -- obviously, firefighters there setting up the kind of perimeter that they're trained to set up in this post-9/11 world, trying to figure out exactly what is going on.

It appears -- and I -- I can't quite make it out. It appears that -- that they may be putting water on it now. It is hard to tell from this vantage point.

LEMON: Yes, you see something shooting out from the back end there, but you don't know if it's sort of combustion from the smoke or if the firefighters are hitting it from the other end.

FEYERICK: OK.

LEMON: I see what you're talking about there. And it is very hard to make out, with the clouds there.

FEYERICK: Yes.

LEMON: But, Again, we heard from Sarah, who is familiar with the neighborhood. And she -- according to her, she's confirming that this building is called the Bel Air, and there are maybe two towers there.

And, then, earlier you said that -- did you say it was a 20-story -- you believed it was a 20-story building, because we're getting...

FEYERICK: Is that, according to a police official who was on his way up, he said it was a 20-story building.

LEMON: If it's indeed...

FEYERICK: And the plane seems to have crashed some way in the middle there.

LEMON: Deb, if it's indeed the Bel Air building, then it's a 50- story building. It's a 50-story condominium tower. And most of these buildings are prewar and postwar, whatever, in Manhattan. Most of these buildings, if this is indeed looking at what it looks hike, built somewhere around the '50s, '60s, probably the '60s or the '70s, high-rise buildings. And most of these buildings that were built there -- I lived in one of them -- concrete.

So, spreading sometimes may be a little bit difficult, which we hope, in this situation, is, because it's -- because of the concrete floors and the concrete walls there. But, again, a 50-story building called the Bel Air, 524 East 72nd Street at York.

PHILLIPS: And this is actually not -- this location, not far from the U.N. I want to say it's about 30 blocks south.

Richard Roth, you're there at the U.N. Are -- are you -- is that about right? Are you about 30 blocks from this fire?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

That's about a mile-and-a-half south of the location. You will probably see over my shoulder the -- New York's First Avenue. We have been seeing fire and emergency vehicles racing by nonstop to the location.

And you have been -- I have been hearing sirens for the last 30 minutes or so. The United Nations staff was alerted with a loudspeaker announcement about 10 minutes ago by a voice that said, we have received reports that this was a helicopter crash, and there was no cause for alarm here in the building.

The United Nations is -- definitely, since 9/11, and other threats has been a little jumpy on anything happening in Manhattan. The staff, years ago, complained that they weren't told about emergencies. And, so, they have practiced evacuations for things like that.

And there is a very close-by helicopter helipad for mostly corporate flights and tourists. And there have been accidents at that location.

PHILLIPS: Well, the -- the FAA is telling us it's a small airplane...

ROTH: Well...

PHILLIPS: ... that crashed into the building.

ROTH: All right.

Well, we -- that's the U.N. telling its staff it was a helicopter, but they didn't give attribution for that report.

PHILLIPS: OK. That's just the FAA telling us that they -- they are confirming it was a small aircraft, Richard.

Now, you're saying you're about a mile from the scene. Isn't Sotheby's also right there at 72nd and York, the famous auction house?

ROTH: Are they still? I thought they might have also shifted it to...

LEMON: Yes.

ROTH: ... to a midtown location. But, up in the Upper East Side, these are definitely one of the tonier districts of Manhattan. These are long blocks when you're walking First Avenue, Second Avenue, Third Avenue, not as many stores on certain blocks.

You have a lot of restaurants on -- like on the Upper East Side, York avenue. But, you know, New York is a tale of many cities. And there are people who would rather, on the East Side, fly to Chicago than go to the West Side of Manhattan.

LEMON: Absolutely.

ROTH: That's the way New York is.

LEMON: Yes.

ROTH: But, obviously, it's a cause for concern for everybody.

And you always see small aircraft, copters in the air over New York. And I and many people are constantly looking up after 9/11 about any passenger aircraft going. You see them going in defense directions, landing at La Guardia, going to Newark or JFK. And you -- you do worry about the flight pattern.

You look at and -- are they getting lower to the ground? Because we have got a lot of tall buildings here, as you know.

PHILLIPS: And this area is not far from La Guardia, right, and JFK?

ROTH: No. I mean, in rush hour, obviously, it could take forever.

PHILLIPS: Right.

ROTH: But not far...

LEMON: Yes.

PHILLIPS: But if you're flying...

LEMON: ... from Manhattan to Queens.

No, you're there in seconds.

LEMON: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Right.

LEMON: If you're -- if you're in Manhattan, you have got Roosevelt Island, which is just on the other side of the East River, and then, from that, a certain part of Queens, and...

ROTH: It is seven miles, but...

LEMON: Right. ROTH: ... by aircraft, you're over it. When you take off, as I'm sure many of our viewers know, from La Guardia, you can be right over those skyscrapers within seconds.

LEMON: Right.

ROTH: And there's also that nervous dip in the plane as they bank to take off going either north or south. It's certainly a great view at times, but some painful memories.

And New York skyscrapers, it's certainly a building boom in Manhattan, over the last few years, especially. Even after 9/11, downtown has got more construction. And uptown, you can't walk a block in Manhattan without running into major construction crews. And small stores and neighborhood stores keep closing in areas. And you wonder how do they get supplied with food and all that, because you have got apartment buildings going up nonstop.

LEMON: OK. All right. Thank you very much, Richard Roth.

We are going to -- we have got the official word from the U.N.

Now we want to go to Washington and bring in our Kelli Arena.

Do you have an official word from Washington for us, Kelli?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I just actually -- actually, it's from New York.

I just got off the phone with the head of the New York field office of the FBI, Mark Mershon. And he says that he's got two squads from the joint terrorism task force that have responded to the scene.

There is no indication, he says, at this point that this was in any way related to terrorism. He says that the FBI is working with the FAA, La Guardia Airport authorities, to I.D. the plane, to I.D. who exactly was on that -- that aircraft, its occupants.

And he says, obviously, NYPD and fire, everybody is in communications right now. But the bottom line, nothing at this point -- still early here, but nothing at this point to suggest that this was a terrorist act.

LEMON: All right. That's good news now. But that's good.

And we were talking to Richard Roth.

Just to give people an idea, you said it wasn't far from the airport, from La Guardia Airport there. As I said, you have the East River.

PHILLIPS: And I did confirm. It is -- Sotheby's is there, still...

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: ... at York and 72nd.

Allan Chernoff, I'm being told now, is at the scene.

Allan, where exactly are you? And what can you describe for us?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I'm at the corner of 72nd Street and York.

And we can still see the smoke pouring out of this high-rise residential building. The building is literally just off the East River. So, it is east of York Avenue, for people who know Manhattan.

Right over here, we're just crammed with fire trucks, with ambulances, the police here trying to push everybody away, several helicopters overhead.

On the building itself, you can see black smoke about five stories below where the smoke is pouring out from right now. And, as I'm speaking, I'm being pushed aside by the police officers. They're trying to cordon off an area for the press over here.

But the fire trucks are here. We cannot see anything, in terms of casualties. It is down the block, down 72nd Street. So, I can't report anything on that right now. But, certainly...

PHILLIPS: Are they getting people out of there, Allan? Are they -- are they -- are firefighters evacuating people out of that building? Do you see anybody being carried out, pulled out, helped out?

CHERNOFF: Exactly, Kyra.

We -- we -- we cannot see any of that right now. I'm looking at several stretchers here, but all -- they're all empty. So, I -- I don't see anybody yet being brought out of the building.

The position I'm at in right now, it's a little difficult to see the actual entrance of the building itself.

(CROSSTALK)

CHERNOFF: So far, we don't see anybody being brought out here to 72nd and York.

PHILLIPS: All right.

And as you -- stay with us, Allan.

I just want to update our viewers, if you're just tuning in, breaking news out of Manhattan right now: a small aircraft crashing into a residential building there at 72nd Street and York. The Bel Air is the name of this residential -- now we're finally getting another shot, just to show the mayhem from the ground. You can see all the firefighters and rescue crews.

Haven't been able to get word, whether they were able to get anybody out of that building yet, what kind of efforts are going on. Obviously, if you remember 9/11, and when those planes crashed into the buildings, we -- we saw what happened, with rescue crews inside, people still inside.

The floors started to cave in. And it became an extremely dangerous situation. So, firefighters now working their radios, trying to figure out how safe it is to go in there, and try to get people out of that building.

And also want to make the point, as we're following this breaking news story, in no way, shape or form have we been given any information that this aircraft is tied to terrorism in any way. We did talk to our sources within NORAD, U.S. Northern Command. They, as you know, protect the ground and the airspace, trying to prevent any type of terrorism attack -- Northern Command created after 9/11 -- NORAD saying, as they have been monitoring the skies, as they do every day, they were not tracking this aircraft. It was not of interest to them.

They were not concerned about this aircraft or -- or had any feeling that it could be tied to terrorism. And that's all the information we're getting to this point. We cannot say that it was tied to any such act at -- at this time.

LEMON: Allan Chernoff, as we said, is on the scene.

Allan, I'm going to ask you a question.

First, but we are going to tell our viewers -- this is the information that we have got. This aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft. It was not a helicopter that hit this building. It was flying under visual flight rules, and not in contact with the tower. It did not have to be -- didn't have to be while flying at visual flight rules.

So, Allan, on the scene now, we're looking at a number of apparatus. And you -- as you know, New York City is probably the premier city when it comes to emergency management, because -- in large part because of 9/11.

What are you seeing there from your vantage point?

CHERNOFF: Well, Don, it does look -- I'm looking at the building right now.

And it does look as if the smoke is actually dissipating somewhat. It does not appear that the fire is spreading, at least from where I'm standing. And I'm looking exactly at the windows from -- from where the fire, and from where this smoke is pouring out.

We actually cannot see any flames right now, as I said, just smoke pouring out of the building. And it looks to be approximately on the 20th floor. Again, we don't see anybody being brought out of the building, though I see one ambulance moving right now, but I cannot tell you whether or not anyone is in that ambulance, anyone injured in that ambulance right now. LEMON: And, Allan, just real quick, this is part -- all part of the plan, some of the response that you're seeing this, Operation Liberty Shield. That was a comprehensive plan that was put into effect after 9/11 to respond to any type of emergency -- emergency that happens in New York City. And you know the tight restrictions and what they have put into place since that has happened.

PHILLIPS: WABC, of course, following this as well.

We're going to go live to their newscast and listen to what they have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... don't believe that anybody was hurt in that collapse.

But they do believe that the debris fell down from below.

I'm sorry. I -- there's a lot of misinformation here as well.

I said plane. What we meant was a small helicopter. But some people here thought it was a plane, too. Some thought it was a helicopter.

I want to talk to Vesna (ph) right now. Vesna was right across the street, I believe, on the ground, right, when it happened?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me what you saw. Tell me what you heard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just saw -- I turned back. I was running with the dog. And I turned back. It was a huge fireball.

And, you know, I was just running in the street and screaming to everybody, "Call police, call police," because that's -- you know, what else you can do? I thought it's terrorism, but, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, a lot of people thought that here, obviously, a lot of people who were in the building very afraid that that might be what was happening.

Now, tell what you thought about the debris coming down. Did you see that happening?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was huge fireball, one big piece, and some small, you know, like fireballs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All cascading down to the ground below?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, a very scary time for you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks very much for talking to us today.

Again, a helicopter into the building here. A lot of people...

PHILLIPS: That's incorrect. It is not a helicopter into the building. We apologize for that.

We have been able to confirm with the FAA that the aircraft was a fixed-wing airplane, not a helicopter. It was flying under visual flight rules, and not in contact with the tower. It did not have to be while flying VFR, by the way.

As you know, Miles O'Brien was explaining to us the visual flight rules. We will get back to more on that in a second.

But Tamer Faltos was an eyewitness there on the scene.

Tamer, tell us exactly -- OK, we just lost him. We apologize for that.

We're just getting people calling in, and -- and telling us what they saw. And we will try and get more of those folks for you on the phone.

Meanwhile, just want to update you real quickly, if you're just tuning in.

A small plane crashed into this high-rise building on the Upper East Side, raining down debris, we're told, on Manhattan, and unleashing what a number of eyewitnesses have reported as a gigantic fireball.

LEMON: Mmm-hmm.

PHILLIPS: That fireball, we're being told by the FAA, an aircraft, a fixed-wing airplane, not a helicopter.

And we still can't get word, Don...

LEMON: Yes.

PHILLIPS: ... whether firefighters are able to get people out of that building.

LEMON: Yes. And we don't have any words of any casualties, if there are any casualties or any injuries in that -- in this. And we certainly hope that there aren't.

We have a number of people working on this. You heard that Allan Chernoff was on the ground there. We have got Randi Kaye, who was on her way to the airport. Miles O'Brien, our morning anchor, is also on his way to the scene. He is an aviation expert.

And then we're going to go to Debbie Feyerick, who is in our New York bureau. And she's got some information for us -- Debbie. FEYERICK: Well, what we can tell you also now is that the Port Authority, the agency that runs the airports, is right now trying to determine whether, in fact, this small plane took off from one of the New York metro area airports. That would be La Guardia, JFK, and even Newark Airport. That's what they're trying to determine right now.

We are also told by an official at the ATF that they have sent out an arson and explosion team. But, right now, it is simply too early to tell exactly what is involved in this particular plane crash.

But they are on site to determine what happened. Also, we are -- are checking with a hospital. This particular residential building, this apartment building, is right near a hospital, New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center.

And we are trying to determine whether any casualties have been brought there, anybody may have been hurt in this particular plane crash, when debris began to fall.

When the plane hit the building, we are told by a police official fuel spilled out, either fuel or plane parts. And, so, there were small fires on the street as well.

This building is on 72nd Street. The hospital is on 68th and 69th Street, a huge long stretch right there on the York River -- this building, again, a residential building, apartments. We're told there are about 180 apartments inside, and that the building is being evacuated -- Kyra, Don.

LEMON: Deb, thanks.

Tamer Faltos now on the phone with us, eyewitness there, heard the explosion.

Tamer, just take us play by play. Where were you? What did you hear? And tell me what you see.

TAMER FALTOS, WITNESS: I was just down the block at my work.

And I just heard this huge, huge crash that makes me just, you know, shake. And I ran out. I find out that the building next -- next block, about the 18th floor or something, has a huge explosion and a big fire, big, huge fire coming out of it.

And pieces of the helicopter is just coming -- falling down, down the street, people screaming, a huge flame around. And, you know, that's basically what I saw. And, in seconds, the firefighters and the police was here, thank God.

PHILLIPS: Tamer Faltos, eyewitness there of what the FAA has told us is an aircraft, a fixed-wing airplane, not a helicopter, that crashed into the Bel Air, a residential building on 524 East 72nd Street, located between York Avenue and East River Drive, if you're just tuning in.

Tamer, what's the scene like right now? We have been trying to confirm whether firefighters or rescue crews have been able to get in that building and evacuate people, or if indeed they have already gotten everybody out of that building at this time.

Tamer, are you still with us?

LEMON: We don't have Tamer.

But, if you look at these pictures, Kyra, you see there, it appears not as much flames pouring out of this building as it was, and certainly 30 minutes ago, when we -- about 30 minutes ago, when we got this information.

So, you can see maybe the fire department has made some sort of at least advance on this fire, and that they're putting it out. And soon to come, possibly, we will find out how much the extent of the -- of the building there, and, also, if there are any injuries.

Let's bring in Jeanne Meserve, who has got some information for us as well -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: As you have heard from Kelli Arena, sources saying at this point there's no indication of terrorism in this incident.

So, the Department of Homeland Security, at this point, is just monitoring what is going on. They're referring all calls to the FAA. And, as you have heard, they say this is a fixed-wing aircraft, not a helicopter. It was not in touch with air traffic control, wasn't required to be, because it was flying under visual flight rules -- no word from them on the type of aircraft that was involved or in the number of passengers that may have been on board.

As I said, DHS is monitoring it, but some of their agencies are responding. The Coast Guard, for instance, is sending some small boats and a cutter up the river to see how they might be able to assist...

LEMON: Hey...

MESERVE: ... in what's going on there.

LEMON: Hey, Jeanne, we've seen all the apparatus that's there on the ground. As I said earlier, this is all part of the response that took place after 9/11, Operation Liberty Shield, to handle emergency situations like that. We're going to talk about that with you a little bit later on, but let's go to Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I think we got Miles back on the line. Miles, it's Kyra. We got word from the FAA that the aircraft was a fixed wing airplane, not a helicopter. It was flying under visual flight rules and not in contact with the tower. And we did report that, you know -- OK, stay with me, Miles.

Let's get to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, what are you hearing? BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, CNN has just learned that NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense command, has made a decision at this hour to put fighter aircraft in the air over several U.S. cities. They are emphasizing to us at this hour they do believe the initial indications is that this event in New York City is an accident, but they do not know for sure.

So NORAD now taking the decision, we are told, to put fighter aircraft over what they called numerous U.S. cities. This is essentially a combat air patrol in the air over several cities monitoring air traffic. This is exactly what did happen after 9/11, of course, because that was a terrorist attack.

The aviation community, of course, and the national security apparatus very sensitive to this issue. Our sources are telling us this decision was made within the last few minutes as a precaution. That is what they are emphasizing, that they have no information that this event we see in New York City is other than an accident. But because they do not know, they are taking that precaution.

Combat air patrols now in the air over several U.S. cities. Obviously, for reasons of security, they at this hour will not tell us which U.S. cities or exactly which fighter units are going to be in the air. Most of the combat air patrols in the last many months, Kyra, have been conducted by the Air National Guard, which is on station in many cities and is usually ready to go in key areas. But now this decision, again, being taken in the last several minutes -- Kyra.

LEMON: Yes, and Barbara, we talked about it -- it's Don Lemon here. Barbara, we talked about -- you were talking about NORAD and that they're going to send these fighter planes over several U.S. cities. We can guess it's going to be the larger cities and the cities who are on the homeland security's emergency response list there. Talk to me about some of the precautions in Washington where you are, in New York City, that they've taken just in case something like this -- we mentioned Operation Liberty Shield.

Before we go on with that, we're going to go to White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, who's gotten a response from the president. Is that right, Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We got a response from White House deputy press secretary, Tony Frato (ph). We just got off the phone with him. And he says that President Bush has been made aware of this plane crash, that White House officials say that all indications are is that this is an accident. But again, they also emphasize -- the Bush administration officials here are not in a position to rule out anything or to rule in anything. That is including terrorism.

But again, they say all indications are is that this is an accident. And we've been told that there are no changes in the security measures or alert status regarding the White House here, White House officials are gathering more information. They are monitoring this very closely, but President Bush is aware of this plane crash. And, again, their information is indicating that it looks like it's certainly an accident, but they are not ruling out or ruling in the possibility of terrorism.

LEMON: We know about the homeland security and when they put the status to red to green to yellow. That has not changed. And that's a question. Right after 9/11, obviously, the president was scrambled to a location because it was terrorism. Nothing like that, you're saying, is happening now. And all indications, Suzanne, that this is an accident. And that is from a White House spokesperson.

MALVEAUX: Yes, that's absolutely right. There are no changes at this time regarding security measures or alert status around the White House, around the president. That has not taken place. If that changes, we'll certainly get back to you and let you know.

But as of this point, they are treating this as, indeed, an accident. They say that that is what the information shows them. But again, I want to make it clear here that they are not ruling out the possibility that it could be terrorism. They're just not in a position -- they don't have enough information to do that at this time.

LEMON: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thank you for that information. As you heard from Barbara Starr, you heard from Suzanne Malveaux, that this is their -- the White House is thinking that this is an accident. They're not changing the status in the emergency alert here or in the terrorism -- our terrorism alert system. So that's the same. All indications, again, from the White House that this is an accident.

And then from Barbara Starr, who told us moments ago that NORAD has fighter planes or aircraft will be -- that's according to Barbara Starr, again. Fighter planes and aircraft will be deployed over several U.S. cities, not exactly sure which U.S. cities are going over that -- that they're going over now. Again, that they are not sure that this is an accident. All indications that it is.

We're going to bring in Miles O'Brien. Miles, before I get to you, I want to tell you 168 firemen on the scene. This is a four- alarm fire, again, happening at 72nd Street and York, at a residential tower, a 50-story residential tower. All of this happening shortly before -- right around 3:00. And that this plane went into what looks like to be around the 10th floor of this residential building, which is located pretty close to the East River there.

You were talking to us earlier, Miles, about flight patterns, about what may have happened. You go up one side East River, you go up Hudson one side. And you say it's sort of a friendly agreement that everyone does that.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's perfectly legal for VFR, visual flight rules. These are pilots that are looking out the window for orientation as opposed to using instruments and following a flight plan. Perfectly legal as long as they stay below about 1,000 feet above the rivers to fly almost all the way around Manhattan. And I say almost because this location where this particular plane crashed at 71st and York is right about the spot where the VFR corridor for the East River ends and the La Guardia airspace begins, where that would not be allowed. In other words, there is a veil of protection there all the way down to the surface, and an airplane is not allowed in there without talking to air traffic controllers with a specific purpose in mind.

So there is this open VFR corridor, below 1,000 feet, down the Hudson River and up the East River, up to about the point where this crash occurred. And in that space, it is not required for pilots to contact air traffic control as long as they remain below that altitude, below the busy airspace above them and they get on a certain frequency and they self-report to each other, as you would, I guess -- it would be analogous to a citizen span radio.

You identify yourself, where you are, which direction you're headed, and then you fly -- you really almost have to be an owl when you fly this thing and move your head on a swivel, because there's a tremendous amount of traffic in this area. Helicopters, fixed wing airplanes.

A lot of airplanes fly their way down to the Statue of Liberty area, go around there, take a look, go up the East River and around. It's a spectacular flight.

There's no question about it. So as you look at and put the pieces together here, when NORAD, Northern Command, says and we're tracking this plane -- there was no reason for air traffic control to be in any contact with this plane whatsoever. And that plane, as far as I can tell, was in a space where a small plane on visual flight rules, not talking to air traffic control, was perfectly legal to be.

So the question is what happened? Was that plane turning around as it reached the La Guardia airspace to try to get back down the river and misjudge something? Was there -- could there be some sort of terrorist reason? Could it have been a suicide? Could it have been a pilot with a heart attack?

I do want to point out, though, that if the light, twin engine airplane -- typically what you're talking about here is upwards of maybe 100 gallons of fuel with the fuel tanks completely full. Not analogous to what we saw on 9/11. We had thousands and thousands of gallons of jet fuel impacting at high speed.

So it's not the same kind of scenario where -- I suspect the fire department could not be as concerned about a building collapse, as you saw with the World Trade Center, because there's just not that much fuel. And for that matter, the weight of this airplane, depending on what it is, maybe about 3,000, 4,000 pounds, about what your SUV in your driveway weighs. So you have to keep that in perspective.

LEMON: Hey, Miles, just a quick, quick, quick answer from you if you have it. We're looking at helicopters, news helicopters. And if this -- if they believe this was anything other -- even though they're deploying NORAD, deploying fighters into the air. But I just want to ask you real quick if we thought it was other than an accident, would they still have this air space open to news helicopters like this?

O'BRIEN: Well, that's an interesting thought. You know, would they shut down the airspace entirely? I think probably that answers -- that question kind of answers itself. In other words, I think the combat air patrol is meant as a precaution when they -- most of the factors suggest this is something else.

LEMON: Thank you, Miles.

PHILLIPS: And just to explain to our viewers, we did talk about the fact that NORAD is scrambling fighters right now. And that is part of the precautionary steps that they take just to secure the airspace when you don't quite know all the specifics about who was flying that aircraft, why it went into that building.

As you remember, after 9/11, NORAD was always up and running and training to scramble aircrafts if indeed something airborne became a threat to a structure, or to people, or the United States, they would scramble jets, and in an event, saw that it was headed in a place that was going to hurt more people, they would have the capability to shoot down that hijacked aircraft.

That, of course, that order would come from the president of the United States, and there are a number of steps that NORAD goes through in order to make that decision. But after 9/11, U.S. Northern Command was created. And NORAD and Northern Command have worked together to try to prevent another 9/11, whether it's protecting the air space, or protecting all of us here on the ground. That is why jets being scrambled at this time

Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve working her sources to tell us more about it if there is indeed my connection.

What do you think, Jeanne? What are your sources telling you about any ties to terrorism?

MESERVE: Well, they don't see any nexus to terrorism at this time, the spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security saying there is no specific or credible intelligence suggesting an imminent threat to the homeland at this time.

They are not ordering any additional protective measures at this point, but the FAA has imposed temporary flight restrictions over the accident area, a radius of one mile around this accident site, up to 1500 feet. The FAA also saying that at this point in time, no airport closures in the New York area. So that's the latest, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. And what else -- how long could this go for, Jeanne? I mean, is it the type of thing where they're making these decisions right now and just going to monitor the situation, minute by minute, hour by hour, have they set any exact time limits to these restrictions?

MESERVE: I'm not aware of any time limits on this. Usually in a case like this, I think they want to have some more information about exactly what they're dealing with, and they are still very much in the mode of collecting information about what has happened in New York City.

PHILLIPS: All right, Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve, thanks so much.

LEMON: And you're looking at all these pictures, you see what appears to be military people and police officers on the scene there, moving people out. We've seen numerous, numerous apparatus on the ground there. We're told 168 firefighters. This is a four-alarm fire that's happening on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Someone who is a pilot and who actually saw this happening is on the phone with us.

You were not flying at the time, but you were an eyewitness to this, Mr. Henry Niemark.

(INAUDIBLE)

LEMON: All right. We appear to be having a little bit of a problem with your cell phone there. So stand by. We want to get some good reception with you, because you actually saw this and you are a pilot, you have some valuable information.

Let's go back to one of our correspondents who is in our New York bureau, Deb Feyerick with some more information for us -- Deb.

FEYERICK: Well, we can tell you we spoke to a maintenance worker who was in the building, the same building where the plane hit. He tells us that the building is still in the process of being evacuated. One of the problems is that there is debris falling from the building, and so they're being careful because it is not 100 percent safe to go out. So that's stalling things just a little bit.

There are 180 residential apartments in this building, and this building right now a local hospital, New York Hospital. The building is also adjacent to the main highway on the East Side of Manhattan. And that building basically midway between Wall Street and upstate New York. That's the route that people travel in order to get from their jobs down on Wall Street up to upstate New York, but it also allows them to go out to Long Island.

So this is a central area, where this plane hit. So all along that area, traffic just backing up as everybody tries to figure out the flow of whether everybody is supposed to be going. The traffic department is shutting down some of those roads in the area so emergency vehicles can pass -- Kyra, Don.

LEMON: Thanks, Deb.

PHILLIPS: Deb, we were talking just moments ago, we were able to tell our viewers that fighters were scrambled to respond as a precautionary measure. U.S. Northern Command, NORAD Commander Admiral Timothy Keating made that call. He's on the line with us -- on the phone with us right now, actually.

Admiral, thanks for calling in. Tell us why you made the call to scramble the jets.

ADM. TIM KEATING, CMDR., U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND: It was through open source reporting, Kyra, I had CNN on in our outer office, excuse me, and saw your initial report and immediately directed fighters airborne -- you'll appreciate, we'd rather not say how many or over what cities. But a large number of fights are airborne along with airborne early-warning systems as we speak, and have been up there for over half and hour, 45 minutes.

PHILLIPS: And sir, just to give our viewers an understanding about why you decided to do this. Ever since 9/11, there has been additional training, additional attention paid to how the United States can prevent another 9/11.

A very important part of your mission at Northern Command and NORAD is to have these jets available and on alert, so if indeed a plane is hijacked or becomes a threat, in any way, to U.S. citizens, you have the ability to scramble those jets, and, if the president tells you to do so, those jets can take out an aircraft within seconds. So, just so people understand why you have these capabilities, it's all obviously to prevent another 9/11.

So we're wondering, as we hear that you made the decision to scramble jets, do Americans need to be concerned right now about airspace, about flying, about aircraft that are in the air right now? Or is this just something you decided to do just in case?

KEATING: Very much just in case, Kyra. We've been in contact with all of our intelligence partners, coalition partners around the world, every manner of intelligence agency, and there are no, repeat, no indications that there is anything underfoot beyond this one airplane or helicopter, whatever, light civil that flew into this apartment building in New York City.

But you're exactly right, we reserve the right to exercise our capabilities, which is what we have done here.

PHILLIPS: And tell me, as you're monitoring the skies right now, I know that you're very active over there at Northern Command, NORAD, are you tracking all aircraft at this point just to make sure nothing else looks suspicious or of concern?

KEATING: Precisely.

PHILLIPS: And you were not tracking this aircraft, right, that went into -- OK. We're getting word that New York Fire Department's reporting one fatality right now. We're getting word that there's one fatality.

So Admiral, you at no time were tracking this small airplane that crashed into this building? It was not of concern to you, correct?

KEATING: I'd put it a little bit different, Kyra, that the FAA's job is to track the airplanes, and we can read their feed here at our headquarters, and we do that 7/24/365. It is very likely that post analysis will indicate this airplane was on a flight plan and may have been on a flight plan, and may have been in contact with the FAA, and for some reason, lost it.

So we had no indication, no indication, that this was a flight of interest, is the term we use.

PHILLIPS: Admiral Timothy Keating, U.S. Northern Command, NORAD commander.

Sir, appreciate your time. I know it's going to be a busy day for you. We appreciate it very much.

KEATING: Thank you.

LEMON: And Kyra, as you just said, we appreciate him joining us and giving us that information. But as you said, according to the New York City Fire Department, there's been at least one, one fatality in all of this.

And someone who saw this happening at the beginning, we tried to talk to him earlier, had a little bit of a problem with his cell phone. We've gotten that fixed, Henry Neimark, who is a pilot.

And you said, I think I heard you saying that you were in your car and you saw it happening?

HENRY NEIMARK, PILOT, EYEWITNESS: That's right. My wife and I were traveling down from upstate. We were visiting my daughter in Brooklyn. And we were on the Grand Central, just getting on to the BQE, and I saw an airplane banking very, very steeply.

And I said to myself, that's very odd for a light plane like that to be maneuvering so close to the ground, doing what looked like acrobatics to me. And then suddenly I saw it hit the building, a huge ball of fire come out of the building, and great billows of smoke, followed by great billows of smoke.

And I realized...

LEMON: Let me ask you real quick -- I hate to cut you off in midsentence. Did you see a helicopter or a plane?

NEIMARK: A plane. It had wings.

LEMON: A plane?

NEIMARK: Yes, it had fixed wings. It did not have a rotor.

LEMON: It did not have a rotor. So you're OK. Because there was -- of course in the beginning of this, some people were saying it was a helicopter. We've gotten confirmation that it was a plane. But I just wanted to make sure, if you were an eyewitness, what you saw.

NEIMARK: Yes, yes, I saw a plane. It was a small plane. You don't see a helicopter -- I mean even if there was a mistake there, you wouldn't see a helicopter bank so sharply. LEMON: OK. So you were on the BQE and you said you were going from Manhattan to Brooklyn, is that right?.

NEIMARK: That's right.

LEMON: And what happened?

NEIMARK: And then I saw -- well, I saw the plane at relatively low altitude. It seemed to be coming from La Guardia, although that's open to question. But I suddenly saw it doing some banking, and what looked like to me -- in retrospect, it seems that this was a pilot desperately trying to get back to the airport, at least go on the a airport and land safely on a runway. Of course, you know, the building's in your way, you can't get out of the way, and that's it.

LEMON: So your experience as a pilot, you would assume that this person was trying to -- I don't want to put words in your mouth -- in trouble, maybe?

NEIMARK: Yes, yes. Because one doesn't -- one learns very learns very early on that one doesn't do steep banks and steep maneuvers close to the ground, because that could cause a wing -- not an engine, but a wing, to stall if the stalling increases and you could go down. So we do try to do all our big maneuvers up at altitude. And this was definitely down at -- it was 700, 800 feet.

LEMON: And normally we wouldn't put an eyewitness on the spot like that, but since you are a pilot, I just wanted to ask you that question, and obviously you were able to confirm some information. At least, through your eyes, you saw a plane that appeared to be banking unusually -- you said sharply to the left, is that right?

NIEMARK: When I saw it, it was banking sharply to the right.

LEMON: Banking sharply to the right, which looked unusual to you. And so then the plane went into the building.

NIEMARK: That's right. That's right.

LEMON: OK, let me ask you real quick, was it a single or multiengine plane?

NIEMARK: It appeared to be a single engine plane.

LEMON: A single engine plane?

NIEMARK: That's right.

LEMON: OK, about what time exactly? We got this just around 3:00.

NIEMARK: Well, 3:00, yes, around 3:00. Just a little past 3:00, I believe.

LEMON: OK, thank you Mr. Niemark for joining us.

NIEMARK: OK, and thank you.

LEMON: All right.

PHILLIPS: Allan Chernoff still there on the scene. Allan, we've obviously been working every angle to this story. But we've been trying to find out about injuries. We got word of one fatality. Have you heard anything more about injured? OK. I think did we lose you?

LEMON: We've lost Allan.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well try and get reconnected with him.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I wanted to tell you that there have been no ambulances departing from here. We have not even anyone taken out of the building. So we have absolutely no word here right at the corner of 72nd and York just down the block from the building whether there have been any injuries at all beyond that one fatality, as you mentioned.

PHILLIPS: All right, have you been able to see any rescues taking place, firefighters coming in and out, anything at all? Any kind of activity?

CHERNOFF: Kyra, it is almost a little bizarre. There are dozens of firetrucks, probably hundreds of police officers, firefighters, but there's just been no activity aside from the firefighters who arrived immediately and were right on the scene and have now pretty much put the fire out.

LEMON: So if you're joining us now, you're getting all the information really that you need to get here on CNN because we've had General Keating, who is in charge ...

CHERNOFF: Admiral Keating.

LEMON: Admiral Keating -- I'm sorry. Admiral Keating who is in charge of NORAD ...

PHILLIPS: U.S. Northern Command and NORAD.

LEMON: ...who has scrambled the planes over several cities, and he said, of course, we would understand why he wouldn't tell us how many and which cities. We've also had a pilot who was an eyewitness to this, who saw it and who confirms, and then on the phone we're working to get this person back, is former NTSB manager that we hope to have for you, and he can tell us some information about this.

But you're looking at live pictures over the East Side of Manhattan, 72nd and York. Right there the river that was just to the left of your screen, that's the East River, which is very close to this building, a building that is called the Belaire Building.

Now, we're going to listen to someone -- we've been hearing people talk about hearing explosions and talking about what they saw. Let's take a listen to someone we spoke to just a little bit earlier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I was just crossing the street. And I sort of heard what seemed to be like a flat tire or something and so I started looking around the street. And then I saw like this huge explosion coming from like the building. And it sounded like, you know, like as if it was a little plane, like a boom thing. And then, just like half of it fell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Half of the plane ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like half of whatever it was that crashed against the building fell, like, to the sidewalk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So eyewitnesses there are confirming, with other people, are telling us that some of the debris from the airplane that crashed into this building fell down onto the ground. And there were two scenes there, one in the upper floors of the building, or in the middle floors of the building, I should say, and then another on the scene, which was some of the debris from the plane, and also fuel that had spilled out from the plane.

And just a little but earlier, our very own Miles O'Brien told us about that and how many -- I think he said like 125 gallons or what have you that the plane may have been carrying. One fatality in all this.

PHILLIPS: Former NTSB Peter Goelz is with us now on the phone.

Peter, you're still very connected to those involved with this operation. What have you heard? What can you tell us at this point -- Peter?

PETER GOELZ, FMR. NTSB MANAGING DIR.: Yes, this is Peter.

PHILLIPS: OK. You're with us live on CNN. I apologize. We've been trying to work this quickly and get the phone lines connected.

GOELZ: Sure.

PHILLIPS: I know you're really -- you're still very connected to what's happening here on the scene. Tell me what you've heard so far.

GOELZ: Well, I mean, there's two things that are going to happen. First, of course, is the emergency response, which you see in full swing, and there's none better than New York City. And they'll be doing a great job.

The second thing is the NTSB, which is the National Transportation Safety Board, will be launching a team of investigators to New York. And they'll be getting off the ground within hours to find out what happened.

Now, this will be somewhat of a challenging investigation because it's a small plane. It most likely will not have any of the devices to help investigators, you know, a cockpit voice recorder or a flight data recorder. So they're going to have to use other techniques to figure out what happened.

PHILLIPS: And, Peter, even though Admiral Keating scrambled jets there over NORAD, out of U.S. Northern Command, there's still a tremendous possibility that this could have been aircraft malfunction, a pilot that was incapacitated. It could have been a suicide, it could have been someone learning how to fly and just didn't know what he or she was doing. So we just want to make that clear.

GOELZ: Yes, there's a myriad of reasons about why this plane, you know, got off course and ended up in this terrible accident. And you know, many times it's simpler answers rather than more complex. But I think the NTSB has been doing this for, you know, over 30 years. They know what they're doing. And I think there will be some preliminary explanations relatively quickly.

LEMON: All right. Peter Goelz, thank you very much.

We want to get back to one of our correspondents who's in the New York bureau. Deb Feyerick, what do you have for us?

FEYERICK: Well, we can tell you we spoke to a concierge from the building, the Belaire Condominiums. He is telling us that they're trying to reach people on the 41st floor. It is unclear whether that's the floor where the plane hit, but they're trying to reach people on the 41st floor. They're not able to get in touch with anyone.

The concierge also telling us that the people in the building right now include firefighters as well as building workers, but it does appear that as of now, the building has been evacuated.

Now, I spoke to a chief of department, a former chief of department who recently retired. He said what is going to happen now is there will be a massive search on the part of firefighters, the NTSB, as well as the FDNY, and that they're closing off the perimeter, and figuring out exactly how the debris fell, how the plane hit. So that building likely to be empty for quite some time -- Kyra, Don.

LEMON: Now, you said you're getting debris on the ground. And I know -- I don't know if you heard, according to the New York City Fire Department, one fatality in all this. And you said they're securing the perimeter around the building. Do you know anything about evacuations, about people leaving the building?

FEYERICK: Oh, that building itself, that entire building has been evacuated. Anybody that they know was in the building, it appears those people are now out of the building.

We have tried reaching the hospital that it is just a couple of blocks away. The hospital right now in emergency mode. They're not telling us how many people they have treated or how many people they're getting right now, but clearly they're on high alert as well. They simply won't confirm how many are being treated for injuries at this time. LEMON: And this happening right there on York, in the 70s, which is called -- a small strip called Hospital Row, because you have New York Hospital, you've got Cornell. Then you've got the burn unit, all of that right in that area.

FEYERICK: That's exactly right. There you've got the hospital, you've got Sotheby's. You've got a lot of residential buildings. And, again, this is right along the highway. We are now told that while they haven't shut down the highway, they have shut down several exit exits that would normally lead on to that area of East Manhattan. So that's going to, obviously, cause a lot of problems for a lot of people who live and travel in that area.

LEMON: And we heard from the pilot, Kyra -- and Deb, thank you. You can stay on the line. We'll keep you if we need some information. If you get something, just jump in.

PHILLIPS: And if you're just tuning in, it's almost the top of the hour. We'll be handing it off to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" in just a minute, but if you're just tuning in, a small single engine aircraft crashed into the Belaire Building at East 72nd Street between York Avenue and East River Drive.

Although jets have been scrambled, that's a precautionary move under U.S. Northern Command and NORAD. At this time, there is no confirmation or any tie to terrorism. The investigation is ongoing to what happened, what's the story behind this pilot and why indeed it crashed into that residential building. One fatality we have confirmed so far.

LEMON: One fatality confirmation, and, again, you spoke to Admiral Keating who said that they deployed fighter jets over several cities in the U.S. He is not going to say which cities.

But all indications, according to the White House, according to the military, is that this is indeed, an accident. But, they are not taking any precautions with this and that is why they have scrambled those jets and put into place some of the precautions that they took after 9/11.

We're going to head to "THE SITUATION ROOM"...

PHILLIPS: And Wolf Blitzer. Take it away, Wolf.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com