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[UPDATE] 9/11 Plane Wreckage Wedged Between Buildings Is A "Trailing Edge Flap"
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 29, 2013
Modified Apr 29, 2013
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 29, 2013
Modified Apr 29, 2013
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[UPDATE BELOW] As the NYC Medical Examiner's Office begins to sift for remains, the NYPD has another update about the plane landing gear found wedged between two lower Manhattan buildings. The wreckage is believed to be from one of the planes that struck the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said, "A Boeing Company technician confirmed to NYPD Crime Scene detectives yesterday evening that the aircraft wreckage discovered at the rear of 51 Park Place in lower Manhattan last week is a trailing edge flap actuation support structure from a Boeing 767."
Browne added, "It is believed to be from one of the two aircraft destroyed on September 11, 2001, but it could not be determined which one." The item, which was discovered on Friday by property surveyors, is still wedged between 21 Park Place and 50 Murray Street, in a narrow 18-inch space.
Browne also described the other efforts: "The NYPD continues to work with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as it prepares to sift soil at the location for human remains. When that process is completed, possibly on Wednesday, the NYPD Emergency Service Unit is expected to remove the flap support structure from behind the building to the custody of the NYPD Property Clerk. It will remain there until a decision is made concerning its final disposition. In the past, the National Transportation Safety Board has sometimes taken custody of such parts, or in the case of the 9/11 aircraft, they have been treated as historical artifacts and become part of museum collections. For example, since 2002, the New York State Museum in Albany has in its collection a large landing gear piece that went through the roof to the basement at the same location."
One of the surveyors, Frank VanBrunt, told the Daily News he "climbed over the mess of dirt, papers, scrap wood, bottles and dead rats into an alley off the northwest corner of the space." VanBrunt said, “I realized later — this is a piece of a murder weapon lying there."
The police are also looking into the possibility the landing gear, which was found with a rope at one end, was lowered into the space. A few of the properties, 43 Park Place, 45-47 Park Place and 51 Park Place, are owned or leased by "Ground Zero" mosque and community center developer Sharif El-Gamal.
Update 3:33 p.m.: The NYPD has determined that the rope that was attached to the landing gear is not an indication that it was planted there. Turns out, the rope came from the NYPD.
Spokesman Paul Browne said in a statement that "in follow-up interviews today, NYPD Crime Scene detectives learned that when police officers first responded to the report of wreckage behind 51 Park Place last week, one of the officers used rope that he found on the ground nearby to wrap around the aircraft part in order to move it in such a way as to look for its serial number or other identifiers."
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51 park place
9/11
landing gear
nypd
world trade center
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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