Plane company not responsible for crash that killed Cory Lidle

Plane company Cirrus Design Corp. was cleared Tuesday of any wrongdoing in the plane accident that killed former Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor in 2006.

A jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan returned the verdict in favor of Cirrus, following a month-long trial brought by the widows of Lidle and pilot Tyler Stanger. The families said they plan to appeal.

A federal investigation found that pilot error caused the plane to slam into an Upper East Side high-rise, although the families blamed a design defect.