Tampa, Fla. — A 15-year-old student pilot took off in a small plane without permission Saturday and crashed into a skyscraper after ignoring a Coast Guard helicopter's signals to land, authorities said.
The crash occurred after Charles J. Bishop's grandmother brought him to the National Aviation flight school for a 5 p.m. flying lesson, said Marianne Pasha, a spokeswoman for Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
"The next thing the instructor knew he was gone," Pasha said.
Though terrorism was quickly discounted, the televised image of a plane blasting a hole in the side of a skyscraper was a chilling reminder of the World Trade Center attacks. The plane's tail dangled near the 20th floor of the 40-story Bank of America building.
One person was killed, but officials would not immediately confirm it was Bishop. It was unknown whether anyone in the building was injured.
Bishop, of nearby of Palm Harbor, had been taking lessons for two years, Pasha said.
Air traffic controllers at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport notified the Coast Guard that the four-seat Cessna 172 had taken off without clearance, said Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Charlotte Pittman.
A Coast Guard helicopter intercepted the plane and attempted to give the pilot visual signals to land at a small airport, but the plane did not respond, Pittman said.
She said the plane was only a few yards from the helicopter when it was signaled to land. Pittman said she has no doubt the pilot understood what the Coast Guard helicopter was indicating.
In Portland, Ore., White House spokesman Scott McClellan said "there is no indication" of terrorism.
He said President Bush was briefed on the incident and that White House officials had been in touch with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Eric Reyes, 25, said he was stopped at a traffic light when the plane crashed.
"I saw a big cloud of smoke," Reyes said. He said he saw one wing fall and hit the ground, followed moments later by the other wing.
The plane was owned by Clearwater-based National Aviation Holding Inc.
Hijacked passenger planes were used to collapse the World Trade Center towers and attack the Pentagon in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A fourth hijacked plane crashed in western Pennsylvania.
Some of the pilots in the hijackings had been trained at Florida flight schools.
Bank of America, based in Charlotte, N.C., is the third-largest U.S. bank. It employs about 143,000 people and serves about 30 million households in 20 states.
Bank officials did not immediately return calls for comment Saturday.
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