TV viewers were stunned by the sight of flames and smoke rising from an Austin, Texas, building Thursday after a pilot slammed his plane into the structure, which housed Internal Revenue Service offices.
The pilot — identified as 53-year-old Joseph A. Stack III — was killed, two people were hospitalized, and one person was still unaccounted for Thursday afternoon, according to The New York Times.
Hours after the crash into the seven-story building, firefighters were still fighting the blaze, and the authorities were able to search only the lowest three floors, the Times reported.
Though the nature of the crash and the sight of the building recalled the horrific images of Sept. 11, 2001, federal authorities stressed that they didn’t consider the crash to be an act of terrorism and reporters avoided the word in their coverage.
The Associated Press reported that law enforcement officials were looking at a website linked to Stack that discussed problems with the IRS and said “violence is the only answer.”
Earlier Thursday, Stack’s house — about five miles from the crash site — erupted into flames. Law enforcement officials said Stack had apparently set fire to his home before the crash. No one apparently was in the house, witnesses and officials said.
by Douglas J. Rowe