The day after they said a piece of plane landing gear had been found between two buildings blocks from the World Trade Center site, the NYPD said the gear was indeed from a Boeing 767. However, it's unclear whether it's from one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The NYPD issued a statement yesterday, "NYPD Crime Scene detectives have been in contact with have Boeing officials who confirmed today that the wreckage is from a Boeing 767." The NY Post, though, reports, "Aviation experts say a number stamped on the wreckage will likely not help determine which of the two 767s it came from."
That number — BOEING CSTG 65B84045 — is a “casting number” not unique to the part or to the plane, said Alan Lery of Turbo Resources International, an Arizona aircraft-parts seller.
It’s possible a number of parts on the mechanism have the same designation, he explained.
“Sometimes, the airlines track every single part number that comes with the plane,” he said. “But not likely this.”
...More evidence is needed, said Chuck Horning, who chairs the Aircraft Maintenance Science Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.
“Being that both aircraft were Boeing 767-200s, they both likely had components with the same casting number,” Horning said.
Police apparently think the plane landing gear may be from United Airlines Flight 175, which hit the WTC's south tower and spread debris on the blocks around the WTC (see this diagram).
The debris was found on Friday by surveyors examining 51 Park Place, in a very narrow 18-inch space between 51 Park Place and 50 Murray Street. They were working for Sharif El-Gamal, who has been trying to develop 45-47 Park Place as a mosque and community center (aka "Ground Zero" mosque). El-Gamal just bought 43 Park Place and has been leasing 51 Park Place from Con Ed for years.
"A part of the airplane wreckage represented by the object at the rear of 51 Park Place and 9 feet from the western boundary of 51 Park Place." Via NYPD
The mosque's lawyer claims that someone planted the gear and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that the NYPD is considering that possibility, since rope was found around the gear. The object is still there and may be removed tomorrow.
