NEW YORK -- A small plane crashed into a building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan Wednesday, spreading chaos throughout the neighborhood just one month after the 9/11 anniversary.

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Video: Eyewitnesses: Crash Conjures Up Memories Of 9/11

Slideshow: Plane Crashes Into East Side Building

Submit: Photos Of East Side Plane Crash

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The crash killed Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and one other person, authorities said. Federal Aviation Administration records showed the plane was registered to the athlete.

Law enforcement officials told NewsChannel 4 that Lidle's passport was found on the street.

On Sunday, the day after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs, Lidle cleaned out his locker at Yankee Stadium and talked about his interest in flying. He explained to reporters the process of getting a pilot's license, and said he intended to fly back to California in several days and planned to make a few stops.

Lidle, 34, a nine-year major league veteran, came to the Yankees from the Philadelphia Phillies in a late-season trade. The journeyman pitched for seven teams during a career in compiling an 82-78 lifetime record.

It was unclear who was at the controls when the plane, headed north up the East River on an apparent sightseeing trip, went toward Manhattan and crashed into the building between its 30th and 31st stories, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Initial reports from the city of four dead were inaccurate, the mayor said.

Bloomberg said a flight instructor and a student pilot with 75 hours of experience were aboard and killed.

According to a federal official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, the plane sent a distress call to the FAA before the crash. The craft was in the air for barely 10 minutes before the accident, taking off from a New Jersey airport at 2:29 p.m., with a 911 call reporting the fire coming in 13 minutes later.

The sudden death in a plane owned by a Yankees player was reminiscent of former New York catcher Thurman Munson's 1979 death in a crash where he was the pilot.

Eleven firefighters suffered minor injuries by the crash on an overcast October afternoon. Two people in an adjoining apartment miraculously escaped injury when the plane crashed into the luxury high-rise, where apartments can sell for upwards of $1 million.

The two deaths were confirmed by Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office. The office previously said four people had died before revising the figure down to two.

"This is a terrible and shocking tragedy that has stunned the entire Yankees organization," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement. He offered his condolences to Lidle's wife and son.

Fifteen firefighters, five civilians and one police officers were taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center with injuries from the crash. Two people in an adjoining apartment miraculously escaped injury when the plane crashed into the luxury high-rise, where apartments can sell for upwards of $1 million.

After the crash, flames could be seen shooting out of the windows of the building on East 72nd Street and York Avenue that overlooks the East River. The FAA said the aircraft was not in contact with air traffic control, which is acceptable for planes flying below a certain altitude.

"I just saw something come across the sky and crash into that building," said Young May Cha, 23, a Cornell University medical student who was walking along 72nd Street. "There was fire, debris ... The explosion was very small."

Cha said it appeared the plane was "flying erractically" before it slammed into the building.

By 3:45 p.m., the flames appeared to be extinguished in the building in the tony neighborhood. Large crowds gathered at the scene, with many people in tears and others trying to reach loved ones by cell phone. Bloomberg went to the site, where parts of the fuselage were falling to the ground.

Two bodies were found on East 72nd Street, one of which was strapped to an aircraft chair. Two bodies were also found in one of the apartments.

Also found in the street was luggage with tags that may have indicated the plane was bound for White Plains, N.Y., sources told NewsChannel 4. There was no word on injuries.

Sources told NewsChannel 4 that the aircraft launched from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The plane was a Cirrus SR20, a single-engine aircraft capable of carrying four passengers and equipped with a parachute designed to let it float to earth in case of a mishap, according to an FAA official.

Fighter planes were scrambled over an several cities across the country in the aftermath of the crash, despite the quick assurances that it was nothing more than an accident. "We see this as a prudent measure at this time," said Sgt. Claudette Hutchinson, a spokeswoman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Christine Monaco, a New York spokeswoman for FBI, said there wasn't any indication of terrorism in the crash, but that officials "have been sent to the scene as a routine." FAA spokesman Jim Peters said all three New York City-area airports are operating normally.

"The initial indication is that there is a terrible accident," said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke.

Witnesses said the crash caused a loud noise and a fireball, and burning and falling debris was seen.

"It's a mob scene with police and helicopters circling," said Sandy Teller, watching from his apartment a block away. "There's a dozen ambulances and lots of firefighters waiting on 72nd, on the corner. There's lots of stretchers ready, gurneys. And lots of emergency people waiting."

To watch video of a New Yorker's emotional account of the crash, click here.

The crash struck fear in a city devastated by the attacks of Sept. 11 five years ago. Witnesses said sirens echoed across the east side of Manhattan as emergency workers rushed to the scene. The crash triggered a loud bang. Broken glass and debris was strewn around the neighborhood.

"There's a sense of helplessness," Teller said. "Cots and gurneys, waiting. It's a mess."

Mystery writer Carol Higgins Clark, daughter of author Mary Higgins Clark, lives on the 38th floor of the struck building and was coming home in a cab when she saw the smoke. She hasn't been able to get into her apartment.

"Thank goodness I wasn't at my apartment writing at the time," she said. She described the building's residents as a mix of actors, doctors, laywer and writers, and people with second homes.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was too early to determine what might have caused the crash in the middle of a hazy October afternoon.

Richard Drutman, a professional photographer who lives on the building's 11th floor, said he was speaking on the telephone when he felt the building shake.

"There was a huge explosion. I looked out my window, and saw what appeared to be pieces of wings, on fire, falling from the sky," Drutman said.

He and his girlfriend quickly evacuated the building.

The address of the building is 524 E. 72nd Street -- a 50-story condominium tower built in the late 1980s and located near Sotheby's auction house. The Belaire Condo, developed by William Zeckendorf Jr., has many that sell for more than $1 million.

Several lower floors of the building are occupied by doctors and administrative offices, as well as guest facilities for family members of patients at the Hospital for Special Surgery, hospital spokeswoman Phyllis Fisher said. No patients were in the high-rise building and operations at the hospital a block away weren't affected, Fisher said. The Hospital for Special Surgery specializes in orthopedic operations.