Corey Lidle

[Jacqueline]

Rest in Peace Corey.

Heartfelt condolences to your Family, Friends, Teammates...and Yankee and Met and all baseball fans.

Doug Lidle and his close friend Bobby Compton played a round of golf Wednesday morning near their southern California homes. Afterward, they went into the snack bar and watched as the television news broke in with an urgent flash: A small plane had crashed into a Manhattan skyscraper.


"We were watching it on TV," Compton told ESPN.com, "not even thinking it could be Cory, because Doug thought Cory had already left."

Lisa Lidle, Doug's wife, had just spoken to their son, Cory. "See you Saturday," he'd told her. Lidle's parents were sure he was on his way home. He'd planned to fly back to California later this week, making a few stops along the way.

Not worried, the men parted ways. Compton, who is also Doug Lidle's supervisor at Century 21 Colonial in Covina, Calif., went back to the office. Soon, the news began to spread through the building: Cory Lidle, who had been a customer of the real estate group as well as a friend, might have owned the plane that crashed.

Compton called his friend.

"Hey, Doug," he remembers asking. "Is it Cory's plane or not?"

"I don't know," Lidle told him. "I'm watching it."

Just then, a television report had confirmed the plane was registered to Cory Lidle, and that his passport had been found.

"Doug, call Cory," Compton said. "And call me back."

That's how Doug Lidle found out his son wasn't coming home.

A few minutes went by. Then a few minutes more. The truth began to set in around the office.

"He didn't call me back," Compton said. "I waited a little bit and he didn't call me back. I called and called; and then I said, 'Screw it.' I drove over to see him."

He found Lidle's parents struggling to accept the loss of their son, a young man who loved flying his new airplane and playing poker.

"Doug's holding on," Compton said Wednesday evening. "He's totally devastated. But that can be expected."

Compton said Lidle's wife, Melanie, and their 6-year-old son Christopher had left New York for Los Angeles before the accident, and likely had no way of learning of the news. According to Compton, a priest planned to meet the flight at Los Angeles International Airport and break the news to Melanie Lidle that her life is forever changed.

"She doesn't know," Compton said. "She's on a plane heading home. She has no clue."

Wright Thompson is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. He can be reached at wrightespn@gmail.com.

[nonesuche]

Jacq I knew this would hurt for you, I cannot imagine dealing with this tragic loss but also not having had a chance to say goodbye as well.

God bless Corey's family.

[2NJSons_Mom]

Who knew Jacq & None..really?  

So sad....

[LouiseVargas]

Oh My God!  It is horrific that the pilot was a Yankee pitcher who rose to baseball fame from his humble birth in Hollywood. What are the odds?!!!

I am so sad but I often wonder about fate. I'm positive that the fuel tank was checked by Corey or his flight instructor. It is part of regular routine. Yet they sent a May Day saying something was wrong in the fuel area.

A lesson about fate ... we can't escape it:

Appointment in Samarra - a novel by John O'Hara
1934 published by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc. New York.  

This is the foreword written by W. Sommerset Maugham. I never read the book because I can't get past the forword.
***********

In Bagdad, a merchant sent his servant to the marketplace for provisions. The servant came running back very frightened. He said, Master, I saw Mr. Death at the marketplace and he made a threatening gesture toward me. Lend me your horse so I can ride to Samarra where death will not find me. And he rode off. The merchant went down to the marketplace and found Mr. Death and asked "why did you threaten my servant." Mr. Death said it was not a threatening gesture ... it was only a start of surprise ... I was astonished to see him in Bagdad for I have an appointment tonight with him in Samarra.
****************

May God bless Corey and his family.

[Carnut]

Looks like another 'Rich Guy' bought more plane than he could handle.

'In terms of avoiding an accident, one problem with the Cirrus is its unforgiving handling compared to other basic four-seaters. The plane is harder to keep level with rudders in a stall than a Cessna or Diamond; if in a deep uncoordinated stall, the Cirrus wants to drop a wing and go into a spin. Thanks to a "split-airfoil" wing design, in which the inner portion of the wing has a higher angle of attack than the outer portion, the Cirrus gives more of a stall buffet warning than many airplanes. The outer portion of the wings, which are in front of the ailerons, are still flying and permitting the pilot to control roll with the yoke, even as the inner sections of the wings may be stalled and creating a warning buffet. This illustrates one of the advantages of composite construction; you could build a metal wing like this, but it would be very costly. For pilots accustomed to learning about an impending stall by feeling reduced airloads on the flight controls, the Cirrus provides much less stall warning. This is due to spring cartridges that continue to resist flight control movement even when the airplane is not moving. In other words, the flight controls feel similar whether you're flying or stalled.

A pilot with 800 hours in the SR22 noted that in his experience it is not nearly as docile as the Cessna 172 and Piper Arrow that he had trained on. A CFI ("certificated flight instructor") who now flies the $3 million Pilatus PC-12 says "The Cirrus is a plane designed to go fast. You shouldn't be flying it slow. It is trickier to handle in a stall than a 172 or the Pilatus."

Once in a spin the SR20 and SR22 are virtually impossible to recover, according to the test pilots.'

A pilot review of the Cirrus

[LouiseVargas]

Thanks George. What type of plane was JFK Jr. flying? He did't have the clearance to fly at night.

[Carnut]

Here's another possiblity on the Cirrus:

'In complex airplanes the autopilot can be one's best friend or worst enemy. The Cirrus is potentially trickier than some airplanes because of its persistent aileron trim. If you are unhappy with what the autopilot on a Diamond, Cessna, or Piper is doing and disconnect it to hand fly, you might have to deal with a plane that is badly out of pitch trim. The autopilot might have been trying to hold altitude despite a power loss, for example, and be trimmed 10 degrees nose up. The Cirrus has aileron trim. The autopilot might have been trying to turn right, for example, to hold heading in turbulence. You take the plane back and then have to deal with a plane that wants to bank 30 degrees right and pitch up. With a center stick or yoke you can use all the power in your arm muscles to wrestle the plane back under control and then retrim. With the Cirrus's side yoke, however, you're using your much weaker wrist muscles to put the plane back to straight and level.'

From the witness descriptions I heard on FOX of observing 'aerobatic' flying I wonder about the above.

[Carnut]

Thanks George. What type of plane was JFK Jr. flying? He did't have the clearance to fly at night.

JFK jr was flying a Piper Saratoga TC II N9253N.

A larger and more powerful aircraft than the Cirrus.

JFK Jr. Piper Saratoga TC II

[nonesuche]

Louise-

You may want to read this, it will give some further dimension to your post regarding the Appointment in Samarra:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=schwarz_alan&id=2622245

[A's Fever]

My 12 year old son said Cory was "traded to the Angels" . . . .too sad

[Carnut]

Aren't we all glad that flying cars have never made it off the ground.

[LouiseVargas]

Nonesuche,

Wow, that was really eerie, wasn't it. Thank you so much for sharing. Just gives me the chills.

***********

A'Fever,

How precious what your son said. You have raised a true baseball fan. Good work.

[LouiseVargas]

George,

The link you provided in response to me question about what plane JFK Jr. was flying just blew me away >>  JFK Jr. Piper Saratoga TC II  << - it took me a while to realize it was a link. Piper Saratoga TC II N9253N.

I followed the other links on that website and have been reading for three hours. If anyone is interested in the cover-ups of the assassinations of JFK, RFK, MLK, Vince Foster, JFK Jr. and corruption in the media and on and on. Amazing revelations. I saw pics I never saw before.

Is the article saying Nixon was responsible in some way for the death of JFK? Why were his cronies E. Howard Hunt and the other guy dressed as tramps in Dealey Plaza? And that Gerald Ford, Member of the Warren Commission, recently admitted he altered the facts when he stated the bullet entered through the base of the neck, thus aligning with the single bullet theory being shot by Oswald. One bullet entered from the upper right back and could not have hit John Connally. I'm fascinated.

How easily I stray off topic.    

[Carnut]

Louise,

Heh, heh, I just posted the link for the Saratoga info.

I don't particularly agree with the rest of the stuff on that site.

I knew it was all there but posted the link because he had all the A/C info in one place.

[Jacqueline]

My 12 year old son said Cory was "traded to the Angels" . . . .too sad

My eyes just welled up reading that....

[Jacqueline]

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/story/2006/10/13/east-river-flying.html