Manhattan’s spectacular skyscraper canyons are a draw to sightseeing amateur pilots – and Itay Zecharia, 19, got such a close look at them on a flyby last summer, he might be punished by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Zecharia, of Holon, Israel, is so far the only pilot to have violated flight restrictions imposed over the East River in the aftermath of Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle’s fatal October 2006 crash into an Upper East Side apartment building, authorities say. FAA officials have until tomorrow to formally charge Zecharia for his errant July 30 flight. His punishment could be a warning, a fine or revocation of his pilot’s certificate.
Around noon that day, Zecharia took off in a Cessna 172 from Trenton, NJ, and headed north for what he hoped would be a sightseeing flight along the Hudson River.
Amateur pilots can fly over the Hudson without contacting air-traffic controllers.
But somehow Zecharia missed a turn, and instead of going up the Hudson he headed up the East River instead.