As I sit here listening to Steve Lyons' hideous Richard Dreyfuss-like laugh over and over and over again, I continue to think of this plane crash, and how it might have happened. (By the way, Fox talked about Lidle on the pre-game, including Kooky's thoughts on it, but it's almost like they made some kind of official decision to ignore the death of a current major league player from the moment the game telecast started. What if it had been a close friend of Piniella or Lyons or something? Do you think they would've not been allowed to comment on it?) As I write this, Chris Myers finally mentions it--and his speech is interrupted by a home run.

The plane was flying up the east side of the island of Manhattan, along the river. To the left, a million tall buildings. To the right, a whole lotta Queens: miles of space, with not many structures taller than a few stories. I heard that up around 72nd St, where the crash happened, you get close to Laguardia Airport's airspace. Since LaGuardia is off to the east, that probably means everywhere to the north and east of where the plane was when it turned into the building is off limits to non-commercial crafts. So it could make sense that if they were turning around, they'd turn left to do so. Maybe too steep a bank, and they lost control and hit the high-rise. But why would they be that low? Why not fly well above the top floor of any building, for safety's sake?

There was also apparently another plane right nearby. And BSM just commented that Lidle reported problems with the plane right from takeoff. I still wonder why, no matter what the problem was at the time, a pilot would turn toward Manhattan for any reason. I guess we'll find out.

These are all things I'd be wondering about, even if there hadn't been anybody famous, let alone a Yankee, on board. Remember, this happened in my neighborhood.