Man sets house on fire, steals plane and flies it into tax office

A Texas man set his house on fire, then stole a small plane and crashed it into a building containing a US federal tax office on Thursday, CNN reported citing federal officials. "This was apparently - according to an official - a deliberate act," CNN anchor Tony Harris said. "Joseph Andrew Stack is the name of the pilot." A federal law enforcement official said investigators are looking into an anti-government message linked to Stack that was left on a website. The message outlines problems with the tax office and says violence "is the only answer".

The plane struck the second floor of the seven-storey building in Austin, Texas about 10am on Thursday (0300 AEDT on Friday) and burst into flames in a massive explosion that forced people to flee out of the windows, witnesses and officials said. There was "no known link to terrorism" the Department of Homeland Security said, noting that the cause of the crash was not yet known. However, North American Aerospace Defense Command launched two F-16 fighter aircraft from Ellington Field in Houston on Thursday to conduct an air patrol in response to the crash.

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Cellphone Curbs May Not Decrease Car Crashes

Laws that forbid motorists from using hand-held phones or texting while driving don't appear to result in a significant decrease in vehicle crashes, according to a new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute expected to be released Friday. The study, expected to be released at a conference in Washington, D.C., Friday, comes amid stepped-up efforts by federal highway-safety regulators to ban texting while driving and curb other forms of driver distraction. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood earlier this week announced rules to forbid commercial truck and bus drivers from text messaging while driving. Mr. LaHood has said he would ban all texting while driving if he could.

The Transportation Department in a statement Friday criticized the HLDI findings, saying "it is irresponsible to suggest that laws banning cell phone use while driving have zero effect on the number of crashes on our nation's roadways. A University of Utah study shows that using a cell phone while driving can be just as dangerous and deadly as driving drunk. We know that by enacting and enforcing tough laws, states have reduced the number of crashes leading to injuries and fatalities."

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