Plane crashes into Federal Reserve Bank MIAMI (AP) =97 Federal Reserve Bank officials were celebrating the holidays= =20 when a small experimental plane slammed into the sprawling building,=20 crashing in a heap of smoke and fire. The pilot of the Four Winds 192 died= =20 when the plane hit the northeast side of the bank Thursday and exploded. No= =20 one inside the one-story, 280,000-square-foot building was injured. "When we first came out of and walked around the side, it was really hard=20 to determine that it was a plane," said Jay Curry, the bank's vice=20 president and branch manager, who went to investigate with security=20 officials. "There wasn't much to view except the smoke and=20 fire." Authorities don't believe the crash was deliberate. "It appears to= =20 be an accident," said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura=20 Brown in Washington. The building, which also houses the Miami bureau of=20 The Associated Press, had some broken windows but no structural damage. The bank is one of six that make up the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.=20 Through the six facilities, the bank provides cash to financial=20 institutions, transfers money electronically and clears millions of checks= =20 every day. The Miami bank employs 250 people. It is situated just north of= =20 the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. military activities in 32=20 nations and 12 dependencies in Latin America and the Caribbean. National=20 Transportation Safety Board spokesman Alan Yurman said early Friday that=20 the four-passenger plane left New Smyrna Beach, Fla., with two passengers=20 and arrived in Marathon, Fla., on Thursday. The pilot was the only one=20 aboard the plane when it left Marathon for the return trip to New Smyrna=20 Beach on Thursday night, he said. The plane crashed about three miles west= =20 of Miami International Airport and the pilot contacted air traffic=20 controllers there, airport spokeswoman Tere Estorino said. The aircraft, manufactured in July, was flying north at 5,500 feet when it= =20 suddenly made a sharp turn to the southeast and crashed, said Alan Yurman,= =20 spokesman for the NTSB. The reason for the change in direction was unknown,= =20 he said. The identity of the male pilot, who was alone on board, was not=20 immediately released. The pilot had not reported any problems and=20 witnesses did not see any fire from the engine, Yurman added. "One of the= =20 witnesses said they saw it at about 500 feet and it was wobbly," Yurman=20 said. The Four Winds 192 is described on the company's Web site as a=20 four-seat, single turboprop aircraft with a range of 1,000 miles. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Island Events) http://www.islandevents.com (Island Events) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************