In an interview Lidle gave about a month earlier , he stated he had been a pilot for seven months and had flown about 95 solo hours . The crash garnered extra attention because of superficial similarities to the September 11 attacks in New York City , which had occurred five years and one month earlier . U.S. officials said that NORAD scrambled fighter aircraft over numerous American and Canadian cities for Combat Air Patrol , and that U.S. President George W. Bush was informed about the situation , but that these were precautionary measures only . The FBI quickly announced there was no reason to suspect that the crash was an act of terrorism
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
2006 New York City plane crash