A small tourist aircraft has hit a skyscraper in the northern Italian city of Milan.
Eyewitnesses said that they had heard a loud explosion.
The top floors of the 30-storey Pirelli building are on fire.
The plane is reported to have made a hole in east side of the building on the 25th floor.
According to Italian media reports, the plane sent an SOS message before it crashed.
The building, which is the city’s tallest, houses the offices of the local Lombardy government, and is next to the city’s main railway station.
Police and ambulances are rushing to the scene and helicopters are circling over the building.
The incident took place in an area full of commuters and many were believed to be still working when the incident took place.
It is not clear how many people if any were on the affected floors at the time.
from BBC online News
By: keltic - 18th April 2002 at 19:31
RE: UH-oh…
My symphaties for the relatives of the victims. The plane crashed against one of the landmarks of Milan, the “Pirelloni” one of the first concrete skyscrepper built in Europe. Fortunately no many victims. I still think overflying residential areas should be forbidden. Obviously human beings are more important, but I can´t even think the results of the plane falling over Milan Cathedral or Pisa Tower. It seems that the structure of the building has been damaged at all.
By: Saab 2000 - 18th April 2002 at 19:22
RE: UH-oh…
At fist hearing othe accident I instantly thought of a terrorist attack,Itallian governemtal biulding,skyscraper,in a city which has investigations into links to el-queda going on but listening to the news I think its just an unfortunate accident.
Both the Dow Jones and the NASDAQ dropped over 1% in less than ten minutes after the news broke,all those idiots who instantly think terrorism think more about their money than the tragic loss of life.
My thoughts go out to those who have lost loved ones.
By: Bhoy - 18th April 2002 at 18:32
RE: UH-oh…
well, the Beeb’s latest online news is that Italian airspace remains open, and suggests that the fire has been extinguished.
Now, just thinking about the geography, Locarno’s less than 40 or so Miles from Milan, and it does appear that the engine had caught fire before impact, the pilot also supposedly reported failure of the landing gear, so it may have been attempting an emergency landing, which would have explained the low altitude.
By: Benair316P - 18th April 2002 at 18:06
RE: UH-oh…
Terrible news yes. It seems to be an accident. Reports suggest the piper was on fire and out of control upon impact.
Regards
Ben
By: dan330 - 18th April 2002 at 17:48
RE: UH-oh…
Very sad news!
Lets hope its an accident, but I can’t help thinking otherwise.
The aircraft must have been at a few thousand feet over Rome and it would be pretty hard not to miss a 400ft building.
I can’t get to Sky at the moment and ITV / BBC are not taking a lot of interest, but I’ve read on another forum that they’ve closed the entire Italian airspace. Is this true?
Someone must fear something if this is the case.
By: Bhoy - 18th April 2002 at 17:24
RE: UH-oh…
right, latest info is
a) aicraft involved a Piper, enroute Locarno in Switzerland to Rome
b) reportedly, Pilot was the only occupant of a/c
c) Pilot radioed ahead announcing engine trouble
d) Crash occured at 17:30 local time
latest: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1937000/1937976.stm
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April 18, 2002 at 4:43 pm