Current updates on the Manhattan plane crash:

• CNN claims that Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was the sole occupant of his plane when it crashed into the highrise apartment building; Deadspin notes that at his press conference, Mayor Bloomberg said there was a passenger (supposedly a flight instructor) as well.

• The New York medical examiner's office confirms two dead; breaking reports indicate Lidle is indeed one of the dead (his passport was found on the street below the building's impact hole), and the other was also on the plane, as opposed to inside the building.

• One of Lidle's former flight instructors in the New York Times, quoted on September 8: "''He was probably my best student ... He learned very, very quickly, and a lot of it is desire. He had huge desire. 'Really, anyone can learn how to fly. If you can drive a bus, you can fly an airplane. But to learn quickly takes money and time. Of course, Cory had plenty of money, and it was the off-season, so he had the time.''

[Photo: Getty Images]

Earlier: NY Yankee Cory Lidle Piloted Crashed Plane

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