Crash skyscraper could reopen soon

Fasulo was a pilot with 30 years flight experience.

MILAN, Italy (CNN) -- Part of Milan's Pirelli Building could re-open just days after a small plane flew into it, a local council chief says.

Two floors of the landmark 32-storey building were badly damaged when the single-engine Commander 112 aircraft smashed into it on Thursday, killing three people including the pilot.

Authorities are considering three possible causes for the crash -- suicide or illness on the part of the 68-year-old pilot Luigi Fasulo, or technical problems with the plane.

An Italian law enforcement official told CNN that authorities had no evidence of any link to terrorism.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO A small private plane slammed into Milan's tallest building, killing at least three people and injuring dozens. CNN's Jim Clancy reports (April 18) Play video The plane punched holes in both sides of the building. (April 18) Play video   MORE STORIES • Witnesses talk of Milan plane horror  • New Yorkers' first thought: 'Not again'  • Chronology: Skyscraper disasters    RESOURCES • Gallery: Pictures of the crash scene  • The flight path  • The Pirelli building     Crash chronology Italian authorities detailed the events leading up to Thursday's crash. 5:39 p.m.: Fasulo asks the control tower at Linate airport for permission to land. 5:42 p.m.: Fasulo tells the tower he's having problems with his landing gear; the tower asks him to circle over a nearby private airport. 5:43 p.m.: Fasulo tells the tower that he is trying to manually lower the plane's landing gear. 5:44 p.m.: The tower gets no response when it tries to contact Fasulo. 5:47 or 5:48 p.m.: The aircraft hits the Pirelli building.

The first 11 floors of the city's tallest building, which houses offices for the Lombardy regional government, could re-open on Monday allowing some of the 1,750 staff who work there to return, Roberto Formigoni, head of the local government, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

The top three floors of the building were under renovation at the time the plane hit the 26th floor.

The plane was carrying a light load and did not explode, avoiding serious structural damage.

Italian Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi has ordered an investigation into the pilot's health, family situation and finances.

He told the Italian Senate that Fasulo could have fallen ill at the controls because after making initial radio contact "there was silence, he was not operating any of the plane's controls in the last two minutes."

A clearer picture of Fasulo's finances has also been emerging after reports that his son, Marco, had told Rome's La Repubblica newspaper that it may have been a deliberate act induced by despair over financial problems. (Full story)

Milan police say Marco has since denied making any such comments and Fasulo's wife, Filomena, told CNN she planned to sue the newspaper over the report.

A pin-ball machine and jukebox supply company run by Fasulo and his wife went into liquidation last month.

Fasulo, who holds joint Swiss and Italian nationality, listed one of his companies, Playmatic SA, on the 2002 Swiss company directory for being bankrupt, The Associated Press said.

Friends and colleagues of the pilot have dismissed speculation that he deliberately flew his small plane into the building.

Fasulo, who had been flying for over 30 years, held a commercial pilot's licence and owned the plane.

Under Swiss law every pilot over the age of 50 has to undergo annual health check-ups. Fasulo passed his last medical in October with no problems.

Workers at Magadino Airport, the tiny airport in Locarno, Switzerland, where he kept his plane, said he showed no sign of unhappiness.

Pino Scossa, a fellow pilot and Fasulo's friend of 40 years, said: "I saw him yesterday before he took off and he seemed very normal to me. The idea that he committed suicide seems absurd to me."

Pietro Marci, former head of the local flight club, added: "We're surrounded by mountains here. If he wanted to kill himself he could have flown into one of them."

Three people, including the pilot, died and 36 were injured

The National Aviation Authority said Fasulo radioed the control tower at Milan's Linate Airport to report "a small problem" with his landing gear as he was approaching the airport tarmac to land.

The tower tried to put him into a holding pattern to the west of the tarmac, but the pilot turned north instead, the authority said.

When the tower contacted the pilot again to inform him he was making "improper manoeuvres," he told officials he was trying to fix the problem with the landing gear so he could land, and that was the last time the tower was able to reach him.