Cory Lidle

NEW YORK - The flight instructor who died with baseball pitcher Cory Lidle when their plane slammed into a skyscraper in Manhattan was identified by police as Tyler Stanger.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly identified Stanger in a Thursday news conference, a day after Lidle's plane hit the high-rise condo on the Upper East Side and ignited a fireball that brought back memories of the 9/11 attacks.

Stanger, the owner of Stang-AIR in La Verne, California, first met Lidle last year in Pomona, California, according to The New York Times. Stanger was 26, according to The New York Daily News.The crash into the 50-story skyscraper ignited a fire and sent up smoke that could be seen across the city skyline.

Investigators were looking at fuel samples and maintenance records. Lidle's log book showed he flew 88 hours total in the cockpit, 47 of them as pilot-in-command, according to Hersman.

The plane hit the middle of the high-rise at 574 E. 72nd St. and York, near the East River. Nobody was hurt in the fire and the building was safely evacuated.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner confirmed that Lidle was aboard the Cirrus Design SR-20 four seater, saying in a statement that the "terrible and shocking tragedy ... has stunned the entire Yankees organization." "I offer my deep condolences and prayers to his wife, Melanie, and son, Christopher, on their enormous loss," Steinbrenner said. Lidle, a California native, married in 1997. The couple's son is 6. Yankees manager Joe Torre called Wednesday's accident "a terrible shock."

CNN