Expert: Lidle Crash Probably Due to Mechanical Failure or Other 'Distractions'

Oct. 12, 2006 — -- The small plane crash that killed New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, Wednesday, was probably caused by a mechanical failure, ABC News aviation expert John Nance said Thursday.

"What we probably have here is something catastrophic going on in that airplane," said Nance. "Fire, engine progressively coming apart and ... something going wrong because we've got two qualified guys on a clear day who suddenly are unable to figure out that their airplane is headed [into a building]."

Lidle reportedly boarded a single-engine Cirrus SR20 plane Wednesday afternoon with flight instructor Tyler Stanger for what was presumably a flight around New York City. The pair took off from a New Jersey airport, circled around the Statue of Liberty, flew past lower Manhattan and then north above the East River.

After passing over the 59th Street Bridge on the reportedly 20-minute flight, the plane smashed into a condo building on the Upper East Side, killing both Lidle and Stanger.

Nance based his assessment on the reported flight path and eyewitness accounts.

Because of the flight path and the fact that the plane did not end up in the East River, Nance said he did not believe the plane had stalled.

"If he had stalled, we would not have had the flight path that we had with the airplane kind of wobbling and aiming at the building and then at the last second, trying unsuccessfully to bank away," Nance said. "That's the indication of pilots who don't know they're aiming at the building. They're fighting something else and at the last second, they see it looming up and it's too late to do anything about it."

One eyewitness reported hearing grinding and downshifting, which Nance said does not describe the sounds of the piston engine in the plane the two were flying.

"Considering that the flight path has been reported to be erratic ... the altitude loss is erratic and there's no reason to believe that they were aiming for the building purposefully, then the only thing left is distraction," he said. "How do you get distracted in a small airplane with a clear canopy? You get distracted if you're fighting for your life somehow, and that means either flight control problems or something else."