UPDATE: Man Identified In Austin Plane Crash May Have Posted Online Suicide NoteAUSTIN (February 18, 2010)-New details have emerged about the man identified by officials as the pilot of the plane that crashed into a 7-story building in Northwest Austin.
News 10 has discovered a suicide note online signed by a Joe Stack
The domain name of the Web site is also registered to Joe Stack at an address in San Marcus; phone calls placed to the phone number went straight to voicemail.
In that letter, the author describes various reasons for being unhappy with the Internal Revenue Service.
The author’s message to the IRS says “Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.”
The note is signed:
“Joe Stack (1956-2010)
02/18/2010”
The Department of Homeland Security is reporting that plane was not stolen, rather it was owned by Stack.
Earlier Reports
CNN is reporting that a man set his house on fire Thursday, stole a plane from the Georgetown airport and then crashed the aircraft into a multi-story building in Austin that houses Internal Revenue Service offices.
CNN reported that NORAD launched two F-16s out of Ellington Air Force Base in Houston after the crash "out of an abundance of caution."
The plane was registered to Joseph Andrew Stack, the Federal Aviation Administration told an Austin TV station, whose house in north Austin burned Thursday morning.
A neighbor rescued a woman and a girl from the burning house, according to Austin media reports.
A two-alarm fire was burning late Thursday morning in north Austin after the small plane crashed into a seven-story building near Highway 183 and Loop 360 in the 9400 block of Research Boulevard.
A fire official said two people were injured and were taken to Austin hospitals.
Another person was unaccounted for.
The building reportedly houses private firms as well as state and federal agencies.
Some early reports indicated that the Austin offices of the FBI are in the building, but an FBI spokesperson said the FBI was housed in an adjacent building.
The Department of Homeland Security initially told CNN there was no immediate evidence the crash was a criminal or terrorist act, but later revised the statement to specify only terrorist activity.
One witness told CNN the plane was flying low before the crash, but said there was no indication it was having difficulties.
A preliminary report indicates the plane took off from an airport in nearby Georgetown about 20 minutes before it crashed into the building in Austin.
Witnesses said there were explosions after the plane hit.
Black smoke was pouring from the building after the crash, which happened at around 10 a.m. Thursday.
The fire was still burning more than an hour after the crash.
People who escaped from the building were standing in the parking lot.
Drivers were pulling off the road to watch.
Streets and highways in the area were closed because of the fire and power in the area was off.
Dawn Clopton, a division chief with the Austin Fire Department, said two people from the building were unaccounted for.
Other details weren't immediately available.
http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/84706667.html
