NEW YORK CITY — The landing gear part found behind Park51 mosque and community center Downtown came from a 767 twin-engine plane — the same type of plane that crashed into the Twin Towers, the manufacturer told police.
Seattle plane maker, Boeing, told NYPD crime scene investigators that the serial number came from one of their wide-body planes, thought they could not confirm it was either of the planes used in the 9/11 attack, police said.
The part was found by surveyors on April 24 at one end of a narrow 94-foot long air-shaft between 51 Park and 50 Murray streets.
Police commissioner Raymond Kelly said on Friday that detectives are looking into how the part landed in the 18-inch gap between the two buildings. He pointed out that the piece left no scarring on the walls on either side of the building, meaning it would have had to drop straight down. Investigators also found a length of rope tied around the gear.
"It's a big part in a very narrow area, somehow it gets down there. Now it could have been lowered at some time, there's a rope that's on it, looks like it's intertwined with that part. It would have to had to fall down exactly," he said at a Friday press briefing in front of Park51.
The commissioner appeared to be convinced that the part was from one of the high jacked planes.
"Obviously it's a manifestation of horrific terrorist acts," he said.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner's office will search the space for human remains that may have been overlooked.
"We'll wait to Monday morning, the office of the chief medical examiner will do an examination of the area around the part to see if it's toxic in anyway, they will also check if there is any human remains at the site and a determination will be made on how to move the part from that location," Kelly said.
