Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Lidle Reportedly Killed in NYC Plane Crash

Wow. Holy shit. Cory Lidle was the pilot of the plane that hit a building on the Upper East Side of NYC. This is very sad. (Not more sad than anyone who might have died, but particularly relevant to sports fans and the sports world.)

Update: Thanks to everyone who has commented on this tragic story.

31 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow.

Anonymous said...

wow..

rip

Brian in Oxford said...

huh?!

Brian in Oxford said...

This is creepy....my 8th birthday was the day after Thurman Munson. And now this year on my birthday, I was at the stadium watching Lidle pitch.

Mega said...

This sucks. Condolences to his friends and family.

Brien said...

Wow, indeed.

I was bemoaning his trade from my beloved Phillies just a few weeks ago ...

Rest in peace, Cory.

Brien

Big D said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Big D said...

Nothing more to add to this, other than condolences and sorrow.

All sports loyalties aside, anyone dying in this way is awful. When it's someone in the public eye, it's even worse.

Brings back memories of Payne Stewart. Tough thing to hear about as a baseball fan. Tough thing to hear about as a human being.

nep1293 said...

It's A-Rod's fault!!!

TJ said...

The worst part is they aren't even sure if his family knows yet. This was mentioned on ESPN, and it was hinted that the police haven't been able to contact his wife. Let's just hope hope hope that they don't find out by seeing a television in the airport or anything like that.

ToddTheJackass said...

Makes even the most rabid of Red Sox fans and Yankee haters realize how there are things way more important than baseball.

-Todd (Boston)

TJ said...

And yes... officially it seems the police arent confirming it's Cory Lidle... because families haven't been notified yet. And yet it got out because of the media presence. Not that I'm trying to villify the media here, but it is awful that it leaked out and that his family is likely to overhear it waiting for their baggage any minute now. Let's just hope the pilot of their plane was notified and they were informed in a more dignified manner...

Travis said...

Statement from George Steinbrenner

"This is a terrible and shocking tragedy that has stunned the entire Yankees organization. I offer my deep condolences and prayers to his wife, Melanie, and son, Christopher, on their enormous loss."

Travis said...

Statement from Brian Cashman (Yankees GM)

"I am deeply saddened by this tragic event and I ask everyone to keep Cory, his family and all those affected by this tragedy in your prayers."

Kurt said...

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why couldn't it have been Curt Schilling instead?

Brigadier Pudding said...

why in the fuck is a plane allowed to fly over manhattan, let alone be at that altitude, without some serious red flags being raised? and how do you accidently fly into the middle of a building.

jesus, this is odd.

jhawkjjm said...

*lights a candle* Condolensces to his family and the other families affected by this.


As an aside, why would people even speculate that MLB wouldn't play because of this? That's a tad on the silly side isn't it?

Anonymous said...

@mbpollack

I was waiting for the token idiot post. jerkass.

MoL said...

It's just a reminder that life is short. Make sure to take advantage of the opportunities given to you for you never know when they may be taken from you.

jhawkjjm said...

ESPN is now reporting that his parents found out by watching coverage on TV. Also sounds like his wife and boy were on an airplane flying to CA and so they don't yet know (at the time of print). That makes this situation even sadder in my opinion. It's bad enough to get the news, but to get it in such an impersonal way is just awful.

Questions for journalist: How do you balance the need to report the news and to respect the need to notify next of kin? If he wasn't a professional athlete would this even be so much of a story? Would it have made a difference on when they released his name? Or was this situation different just because they found his passport near the crash (according to ESPN)?

Unknown said...

I think the national need to make sure it wasn't a terrorist strike probably led to the identity being leaked...regardless of who the pilot was. It just turned out to be Lidle.

Condolensces to family and friends.

FreKy J said...

The strangest part to think about in all this is if the Yankees had won the ALDS, Lidle would most likely be alive right now.

Aitch said...

I think there is a very fine line between the need to know vs. respect for the victims family. Obviously no one wants to turn on the tv and see that a loved on has died. However, given the history of NYC and incidents with aircrafts striking buildings, this story would be covered regradless of who the pilot was. The only difference is there would not have been any leak of his identity.

FreKy J said...

It's just strange how events play out..

I couldn't imagine that Lidle's wife wasn't notified in mid-flight of what happened. Everyone knew which plane she was on and likely notified her via the pilot, and had people waiting for her when the plane landed.

One thing I'm glad for.. they're saying now that nobody living in the building was killed, only Lidle and the flight instructor who was also on board.

PS - Sorry if I keep posting half-thoughts.

FreKy J said...

Question for you Dan..

From where you are in NYC, were you able to see the building and the smoke?

TJ said...

jhawkjjm, that is just completely heartbreaking to me... to find out like that... man.

Travis said...

FreKy J>>>>>

THe family sent a priest to meet her at the airport when the plane landed and to inform her of what happene. For medical reasons, she would not have been intentionally told while the pl;ane was in the air.

FreKy J said...

@travis

That's good to know. I wasn't aware there were any medical reasons.

Travis said...

@FreKy J

Well someone going into shock finding out there husband was killed in a plane crash into a buiolding is very likely, and thats not something you want to happen in the air, so that kind of information would never be deliberatly given in flight, though if the plane had inflight news on the tv then she may have known before it landed.

Brian in Oxford said...

Blaming A-Rod's pretty childish....but it does make for a good "butterfly effect" analysis as to what would have happened if A-Rod doesn't strike out with the bases loaded in game 2, first inning....Tigers on ropes....

Unknown said...

I agree with generik. An extra 10 page wrap around section in today's Newsday, nonstop coverage yesterday on TV is a little too much. All deaths are incredibly tragic for family members and friends.

However, if two people died in a car crash in NYC yesterday (probably even happened) would it get this kind of coverage?

Police arrested a man who abducted a 10 year old girl riding her bicycle - that gets very little airplay. Allegedly a NYC cop was molesting and raping a girl since she was 8 years old - gets a few paragraphs. North Korea says sanctioning them for nuclear testing is an act of war - old news. Our media just overplays anything that is sensational and involves a celebrity of any kind.