Not many details at this point. It was a private plane helicopter a $187,000 Cirrus SR20 belonging to Cory Lidle, a professional baseball player with the Yankees, it hit the 20th floor, the building is on the Upper East Side (ie richville). MSNBC has the scoop:

There was no immediate word on any deaths or injuries. A U.S. official told Reuters there was no reason to believe the incident was terrorism-related…

Video from the scene showed at least three floors in the high-rise engulfed in flames. A column of gray smoke rose over the city, and raging flames could be seen in four windows on two upper floors.

The building has 50 stories, and is surrounded by highrises, so if a plane were to fall out of the sky by accident, it’s likelier in my mind that it would have hit a higher floor. Takes maneuvering to get down low. The building also has a hospital on the lower floors, undoubtably evacuated now because of the threat of the oxygen exploding. The plane hit the hospital section 20th floor; apartments begin on the 22nd floor.

Updates, from Gothamist via Gawker:

• the building is 524 East 72nd Street

• several apartments on a number of floors are burning

• at least one person is dead, several are trapped in the building

• the FAA still says it was a fixed wing aircraft, not a helicopter

• a helicopter was in the area, on a photography tour, but there’ s no confirmation this is the same one

• there is a huge crowd of people in the street, some taking pictures, but burning debris is falling and if they don’t haul ass, Darwin will have his revenge for the teaching of Intelligent Design in US schools.

• the building is all apartments, no hospitals. The Hospital for Special Surgery is at 535, not 524.

• The FAA has banned flights within a mile horizontal radius of the site and 1500 feet above.

More Updates:

• two were confirmed aboard the airplane: Lidle’s passport was found in the street, and the governor has confirmed that one person was a flight instructor and the other a student.

• witnesses said the plane appeared to be performing aerobatic maneuvers and pulled a sharp right dive into the building

• According to Gothamist, The plane’s route from Teterboro: Statue of Liberty, then up the East River, past the 59th Street bridge where it lost radar contact.

• a distress call was made from the plane prior to the crash

• the building is structurally still sound, as the plane was too small and light to do significant damage, and people are moving back in

• Although the FBI stated there was no indication of terrorism in the crash, Drudge misreported this, dropping the “no.”