The alleged pilot of a small plane who appeared to have flown it deliberately into an Austin, Texas office building on Thursday left an angry suicide note online beforehand, dpa reported.
The small plane crashed into the building housing federal government offices, including the federal tax agency, injuring at least two people and leaving a third unaccounted for, officials said.
The suicide note posted online by the alleged pilot expresses rage at the Internal Revenue Service. The meandering note also took aim at a wide range of issues and people, including former president George W Bush, the bail-out of Wall Street firms, healthcare policy and taxation.
"I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity," the note signed "Joe Stack" said. "Well, Mr Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well."
City officials would not confirm media reports that Joseph Andrew Stack was the owner and pilot of the plane and had set his home on fire earlier in the morning. Police Chief Art Acevedo stressed that it was an isolated incident.
The plane, a small Piper Cherokee PA-28, departed the Georgetown, Texas airport at 9:40 am local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The federal Homeland Security agency said in a statement that it did not yet know the cause of the crash.
"At this time, we have no reason to believe there is a nexus to terrorist activity," the statement said. "We continue to gather more information, and are aware there is additional information about the pilot's history."
The agency referred further questions to local authorities and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
US President Barack Obama was briefed on the incident, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
The fire had been contained and firemen were going methodically through the seven-story building to quash any remain flames, a fire official said. Televised images showed black smoke pouring out of the accident scene shortly after the crash.
Two people were transported to hospital with injuries, the fire official said. Local officials were attempting to locate the unaccounted for employee and were unsure whether he or she had been in the building at the time.
An eyewitness told the Austin Statesman newspaper that he watched the plane fly over the highway he was driving on, then bank heavily and head right into the building.
It was not clear how many people were inside the building at the time of the crash, which set off a ball of fire and huge explosion.
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