Expert: Probe hurt by lack of recorder, distress call

	Cory Lidle, left, with Bucks County Courier Times sports reporter Randy Miller in February before taking off in the pitcher's Cirrus SR-20 airplane. AP Photo/Bucks County Courier Times, Randy Miller
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By Jon Heyman, SI.com

The cause of the crash of Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle's plane may take a long time to determine and may in fact never be known, well-respected aviation expert Robert Hager said today.

"It's really difficult to investigate this one," Hager, the well-known NBC-TV flight expert told SI.com while standing a half block from the Belaire condo which was struck yesterday by Lidle's plane, killing Lidle and his flight instructor.

"There's no recorder on the plane, and they didn't make any distress calls. What the investigators might have to work with is pieces of the wreckage," Hager said. "They do amazing work. They might find evidence of mechanical problems. Otherwise it's human error -- most crashes are -- but it's very hard to prove that without a recorder."

While investigators may have difficulty proving what happened, Hager theorized that it's possible that winds "buffeted" the plane as they were preparing to turn around. "You have to fly low there because of [proximity to] the approach to the airport. There's very little room for forgiveness," Hager said. "If they got hit by a gust, there isn't much space there. I've heard it was a very gusty day."

Lidle and his co-pilot were well within the rules to fly along the East River flight corridor, Hager said. Since it is not known if there was a call for permission to fly beyond LaGuardia Airport, which sits across the East River from Manhattan, in Queens, Hager said it lends credence to the possibility they were trying to turn around in that spot, where 72nd Street intersects with the East River. "They were possibly turning around. But you have to remember this is just guesswork," Hager said.

Even though Lidle has been presumed to be the pilot in some reports, the identity of the pilot may never be known for sure, either, since Lidle was flying with his flight instructor and a plane (Cirrus SR-20) that has dual controls, Hager said. "They found the bodies strapped in, but you can fly the plane from either position," Hager said.

According to Hager, it makes sense that Lidle was flying since he told friends he was preparing to make a flight home to California and presumably wanted to log some more airtime, with the instructor along for advice. "Presumably they were out for a spin," Hager said. But Hager said that hasn't been proven yet, either.