Newz Forum: OTHER: Yankees' Lidle killed in plane crash

New York Yankees' pitcher Cory Lidle was killed on Wednesday when his plane hit a Manhattan high-rise building, the baseball club's owner George Steinbrenner said.

"This is a terrible and shocking tragedy that has stunned the entire Yankees organization. I offer my deepest condolences and prayers to his wife Melanie, and son Christopher, on their enormous loss," Steinbrenner said in a statement issued through his publicity officer.

source

Yahoo! Sports

Watching ESPN at the moment, apparently it has been confirmed at thsi point in time that it was Lidle piloting th eplane, and it took 2 llives.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragedy. Hopefully we soon know exactly what happened.

I was watching the news and i saw the coverage on TV. so i went outside and i had a first hand look at the fire. I live right across the river from the blaze. it was a sight to see. My thoughts go out to the familys of those who were lost.

They had this on the news over here in the UK, it was a big shock. They reported that they didnt know if he was in the plane at first.

There was some confusion a tfirst as to who was on the plane, and then they didn't want to release the names of the deceased until the families were told, but it was awwumed that it was Lidle.

I'm torn on this. At first read, it seems to be just a bunch of crap. On second hand, the policy is written this way, and it is the same for all.

Cory Lidle's beneficiaries could lose out on a $1.5 million payout from baseball's benefit plan if it's determined that he was piloting his plane when it crashed into a Manhattan high-rise condominium.

While Lidle wasn't a member of the Major League Baseball Players Association licensing plan because he was a replacement player during the 1994-95 strike, the New York Yankees pitcher was covered by the union's benefit plan.

The plan calls for a $450,000 life insurance benefit and has an accidental death benefit of $1.05 million. However, the plan -- which applies to all big leaguers -- contains an exclusion for "any incident related to travel in an aircraft ... while acting in any capacity other than as a passenger."

Lidle and his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger, were killed Wednesday when Lidle's four-seat Cirrus SR20 crashed into a building on the Upper East Side. While Lidle was the registered owner of the aircraft, it has not been confirmed who was at the controls.

ESPN.com Story Link

[Edited on 10/13/2006 by Gibbs Baby!!!]