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| Small Plane Crashes Into Austin, Texas, Office Building |
| 2010-02-18 |
| A small single-engine plane crashed into a seven-story office building in Austin, Texas, around 10 a.m. local time Thursday. An NTSB official told Fox News that they are investigating this as an intentional act, and said it appears the pilot set his own house on fire and then got in his plane and flew it into the building. An NTSB spokesman, however, told FoxNews.com that "we can't confirm any of that." Rumor mill is going at high speed An Internal Revenue Service office is located inside the building. IRS Agent William Winnie said he was on the third floor of the building when he saw a light-colored, single engine plane coming towards the building, TheStatesman.com reported. "It looked like it was coming right in my window," Winnie said, according to the Web sit. Winnie said the plane veered down and smashed into the lower floors. "I didn't lose my footing, but it was enough to knock people who were sitting to the floor." The Austin American-Statesman newspaper reported on its Web site that EMS officials have taken two patients to the hospital, and that there are several "walking wounded" at the scene. Paramedics have set up a triage center at the scene. Harry Evans, an assistant chief with the Austin Fire Department, said one person from the building was unaccounted for. "There may be other injuries, we are unsure at this time," Evans said during a news conference Thursday. Heavy smoke could be seen coming from the building at 9420 Research Boulevard. Several local witnesses on Twitter reported seeing flames coming out of the building and lots of broken glass. Dozens of fire trucks were on scene and the building was evacuated. Early reports that the building housed the FBI field office in Austin later turned out not to be true. An FBI spokesman told Fox News that the FBI office in Austin is near where the plane crashed, but not in the same building. There are some federal offices in the building, though authorities couldn't identify which ones. The FBI spokesman also told Fox News that as of 10:30 a.m. local time. there was nothing to indicate that this targeted the FBI or that the crash was terrorism-related. "The building lies along a flight path," the spokesman said, so right now it looks like an "accident." I think that is their default answer KXAN is reporting that emergency crews are on the scene, and two people are still unaccounted for, according to fire officials. The station also reported that the collision shook the entire building, and the entire front of the structure is gone. Have to wait and see, folks UPDATE: AUSTIN, Texas — A pilot furious with the Internal Revenue Service crashed his small plane into an office building that houses federal tax employees in Austin, Texas on Thursday, setting off a raging fire that sent workers fleeing as thick plumes of black smoke poured into the air. A U.S. law official identified the pilot as Joseph Stack and said investigators were looking at an anti-government message on the Web linked to him. The Web site outlines problems with the IRS and says violence "is the only answer." I glanced at it. Looong rant, hates the IRS, his CPA, George Bush and his wife. His own wife, not Laura. I think. Federal law enforcement officials have said they were investigating whether the pilot crashed on purpose in an effort to blow up IRS offices. The Web site featured a long note dated Thursday denouncing the government and the IRS in particular and cited the Austin man's problems with the agency. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #14 Do angry white guys qualify for 72 virgins in the afterlife? If so we're in one hell of a mess about now. |
| Posted by: jpal 2010-02-18 19:43 |
| #13 His rather rambling manifesto is up at the Smoking Gun. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0218102stack1.html Software engineer, had his retirement money wiped out a few times. Generally a bad luck kind of guy. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-02-18 17:26 |
| #12 In a neighborhood about six miles from the crash site, a home listed as belonging to Stack was on fire earlier Thursday. Two law enforcement officials said Stack apparently set fire to his home before embarking on his suicide mission. MyFoxAustin.com said firefighters reported that the entire house was on fire, including the fence, when they arrived on the scene. Neighbors said they heard a loud explosion in the house Thursday morning right before it became engulfed in flames. MyFoxAustin.com reported that a 12-year-old girl and a woman were rescued by a neighbor from the $236,000 home. The station reported that the girl is believed to be Stack's stepdaughter. I'm guessing he was mad at his wife and 12 year old stepdaughter, too. Note to Obumble: This is the kind of thing you take to a civilian court. Please do not confuse this situation with that of Muslim terrorists. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-02-18 17:01 |
| #11 11 Dubai Murderers - Hamas Wants : Interpol Denmark , Belgium , Sweden , Poland , Germany , Estonia , United States : Texas , Hawaii , San Francisco ! Alaska ! : Juneau !, Canada : Toronto , Vancouver , Chilliwack ! , Luxembourgh , Holland , Christiania , Freelandia , Amsterdam , Malaysia , Thailand , Hong Kong , Singapore , Philiipines and Vietnam ! |
| Posted by: Moi : Nakey : Deli del dykes 2010-02-18 16:34 |
| #10 Fox News article says it was deliberate. "A pilot furious with the Internal Revenue Service crashed his small plane Thursday into an office building in Austin, Texas, that houses federal tax employees, setting off a raging fire." |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2010-02-18 15:55 |
| #9 Ah, it also appears he was part of a group that pulled a stunt intended to force the IRS to change the rules for tax exemptions for religious groups, specifically the Catholic Church. (He seems to be a bit fuzzy on the fact that Congress, not the IRS, makes the tax law.) Reading between the lines it looks as if he and his buddies set up a fake religion and claimed all sorts of deductions as a result. I remember those groups in the 80s. They failed. So did his, to the tune of $40k owed by him in back taxes. Then he tried to get around the 1986 tax law that clarified when someone could file as a business (with business deductions but also higher tax requirements) and when they qualified as a temp employee. He lost on that one too. And the base closings in California in the 90s happened 'just like that' with no warning. Wow. I wasn't aware that the years of hearings and all the news stories about the 90s recession in the aerospace industry were suppressed by The Man. I guess I missed it because I, like many who had worked in aerospace, was busy competing in other markets with our expertise. Funny thing, that, because the market I moved to had a lot of embedded real time programming, which is what he apparently specialized in. This guy made a long string of Fail choices, it would appear. It couldn't have been easy to go a year without generating any income, as his rant reveals he did when he first moved to TX, or to find that you can't command what you once did as an hourly rate. It's tough in the marketplace right now and good people are hurting - no doubt about that. But the ones who survive and manage don't blame others for their choices. They pick themselves up and one way or another find a path forward. He had a plane - he could have sold it or used it for some productive purpose. Instead he tried to kill people. Nope, my sympathy meter seems to be stuck over on the low reading here. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-02-18 15:49 |
| #8 That's not quite how I read his manifesto, Redneck Jim. He tangled with the IRS on multiple occasions over the years in an attempt to interpret the tax code in ways that the courts have consistently refused to accept. He doesn't appear to acknowledge in any way that his naive reading of a few words in the code don't reflect the settled law. Then in his last audit it turned out his wife had unreported income and he blamed the accountant for that - despite the fact that he signed the return and so did she. But what caught my attention is when he says he moved to Austin and THEN discovered there was no consulting work there. He describes it as if that were a mysterious and unexpected situation - but never describes having done any exploration of the matter ahead of time. Nope, it's all Someone Else's Fault. I feel sorry for what is apparently a fairly new wife who is now left both with the tax mess and with no home .... |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-02-18 15:11 |
| #7 I saw this on live TV, I'm appalled at the spin, worse than a 428 mustang burnout *No casualties (But we haven't checked four stories yet) But there are NO CASUALTIES. *NO REASON (But we scrambled jets anyway) *His house is on fire, And he set it. (but we don't know his reasons) *Had extensive "Dealings" (Their word) With the IRS. (But we don't know if the building hit was intentional) Sounds to me the IRS was taking all he owned and he snapped, OK now they can have it all. (Shudder) Seems he went after the IRS Agent giving him all the problems, Apparently he'd been sitting at a certain desk and been able to retaliate, after all, you can't walk in with a gun, sooo. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2010-02-18 14:29 |
| #6 Oh my - if that's legitimate Slavilet B. then this guy didn't just "have a beef with the IRS". He had a long pattern of poor choices in the face of life's challenges. And it's all someone else's fault that his life sucked. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-02-18 14:04 |
| #5 Meet Joseph Andrew Stack: Anti Capitalist..check Anti Christian.. Check.. Anti Bush.. check http://embeddedart.com/ At the end: The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed. Joe Stack (1956-2010) 02/18/2010 |
| Posted by: Slavilet Borgia9856 2010-02-18 13:54 |
| #4 they're telling us not to worry that everything is under control that it's domestic. I think it's too early to try to be re assuring us about anything. I heard about a plane crashing into something in California in a chat need more info |
| Posted by: Jan 2010-02-18 13:44 |
| #3 Joseph Andrew Stack ignited his own house and flew a single-engine plane with 50 gallons of aviation fuel into the building housing the IRS offices. While this is a domestic beef, there are 17,000 airfileds in the US with only about 450 with communication towers. Line of sight pilots can fly on clear days, without filing a flight plan. They can use radio only and choose not to even turn on a transponder, giving them a lot of freedom to just take off on a whim and can travel hundreds of miles without anyone being aware they are in the air. Wanted terrorist Adnan al Shukrijumah is a licensed pilot and pops up all over the place before disappearing. Besides all kinds of terrorist activities, there is the criminal element, with drug and arms smuggling possible without a trace. Homeland Security can't even handle the commercial flights. BTW, another United flight Denver to SF was also just diverted To Salt Lake following a bomb threat. |
| Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 2010-02-18 13:42 |
| #2 IRS office building... |
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Posted by: |
| #1 William of Ockham knows the answers. |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division 2010-02-18 13:04 |