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Pilot killed as small plane hits building
©Associated Press
December 6, 2002
MIAMI -- A small plane crashed into the Federal Reserve Bank Building Thursday night, killing the pilot and forcing the evacuation of more than 100 people attending a holiday season party, authorities said. No one inside the building was injured.
The plane approached the one-story building from the north and struck the front of the building at 8:37 p.m., officials said. The aircraft was described as a small single-engine plane, possibly an experimental aircraft.
A fire broke out, but there appeared to be no structural damage to the building. Some windows were broken, and some charring was seen. The building is about 3 miles west of Miami International Airport.
"When we first came out and walked around the side, it was really hard to determine that it was a plane," said vice president and branch manager Jay Curry, who was attending the party at the time of the crash. The event was attended by current and former bank directors.
Miami International is close by, but "typically this type of plane would not be in this vicinity at this trajectory," said Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue spokesman Louie Fernandez. It was too early to tell whether the crash was deliberate.
Fernandez said he knew of no threats against the bank.
An FBI special agent assigned to Miami International was en route to the accident, and the agency was keeping in close contact with investigators, said FBI Miami spokeswoman Judy Orihuela.
The building is just north of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. military activities in 32 nations and 12 dependencies in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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