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NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― Federal officials on Friday were winding down their onsite investigation of the crash of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle's plane into a skyscraper and said they were reviewing rules that allow small aircraft to fly in Manhattan's crowded airspace.

The neighborhood where the crash occurred was getting back to normal; police officials at the scene said they hoped to reopen the closed-off area by late Friday afternoon. Escorted delivery vehicles were allowed into the area, and the visible police presence was down to a radio car and the mobile command center.

But the issues surrounding small-aircraft rules were getting a lot of attention.

The general aviation corridors around Manhattan have been "the Wild West," said Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. He and Sen. Charles Schumer said anyone flying near the island should be under the supervision of air traffic controllers, especially in the post-9/11 era.

"A smart terrorist could load up a small, little plane with biological, chemical or even nuclear material and fly up the Hudson or East rivers, no questions asked," said Schumer, D-N.Y. "I hope this will be a wake-up call to the FAA to re-examine flight patterns, which, amazingly enough, they haven't done since 9/11."

Gov. George Pataki also said the Federal Aviation Administration "needs to take a much tougher line" about private, or general aviation, flights over the city.

FAA spokeswoman Laura J. Brown said Thursday the agency has decided to review those guidelines and flight restrictions.

On his weekly radio show Friday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg dismissed those concerns as coming from the usual gaggle of lawmakers "who rush to the microphone anytime they think they can get on the air."

Bloomberg, who has been a recreational pilot for years, says the airspace rules are safe and should only be the concern of the FAA.

"They have to balance security, ability to control planes, keep one set of planes away from the other, worry about what's on the ground, what's in the air," he said. "They want to make sure that people have the right and the ability to come and go and use air as part of the transportation system."

Lidle's single-engine plane slammed into the building Wednesday while flying over the East River, which separates Manhattan from Brooklyn and Queens and is lined with skyscrapers and landmarks, including the United Nations. He and California-based flight instructor, Tyler Stanger, were killed.

It was unclear who was at the controls. The question of who was flying Lidle's 545 Cirrus SR20 will influence whether his family receives a $1.5 million insurance payment from baseball's benefit plan. The plan excludes "any incident related to travel in an aircraft ... while acting in any capacity other than as a passenger."

The plane looped around the Statue of Liberty, then followed the East River over the Brooklyn Bridge and past the U.N., authorities said.

Much of the airspace over the rivers that encircle Manhattan is unrestricted for small aircraft flying under 1,100 feet, a little lower than the Empire State Building. Small planes and helicopters beneath that ceiling aren't required to file flight plans or check in with air traffic controllers, as long as they are over water.

By about 96th Street, general aviation aircraft headed north must either execute a U-turn to avoid the restricted airspace around LaGuardia Airport or get permission from air traffic control to go any further.

Lidle's plane struck The Belaire condominium tower near that turnaround point.

The plane was cruising at 112 mph at 700 feet as it began to make a U-turn. It was last seen on radar about a quarter-mile north of the building, in the middle of the turn, at 500 feet, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The crash rained pieces of fiery wreckage on the street and sidewalk.

Workers in hard hats collected pieces of the wreckage Thursday and placed the charred debris neatly on a silver-colored tarp in the bed of a pickup truck as neighborhood children gathered to gawk at the jagged and twisted metal, glass shards and wheels.

Crews recovered the nose, wings, tail and instrument panel of the four-seat plane, as well as a hand-held GPS device. The workers conducted an exhaustive, floor-by-floor sweep of the building, including terraces and ledges, NTSB spokeswoman Debbie Hersman said.

Residents also began returning to their scorch-marked tower. One witness recalled the terrifying sight of a charred body amid the plane wreckage strewn on the street.

"It was in a fetal position, strapped into a seat. I could see a white leg sticking up. It was awful," said maintenance worker Juan Rosario.

On Friday, mystery writer Carol Higgins Clark, who lives two floors below where the plane struck, said "there is a strong smell of smoke still" on the north side of the building, where the plane hit. She also had some damage to a bathroom ceiling and a buckling floor elsewhere, but overall she felt fortunate.

"It's very sad, the whole thing. I'm thinking of the families of the pilot and flight instructor. We can take care of all the stuff in the building. But for them it will never be the same."

Higgins said apartment 40F, where the plane struck, was not occupied at the time because it was used as a guest apartment by a couple who lives on her floor. She said some apartments are frequently unoccupied because they are used as pieds-a-terre by people with permanent homes elsewhere.

Stanger, 26, operated a flight school in La Verne, Calif., and had a wife and young child. He and Lidle apparently planned to fly from New York to California this week.

"They were going to fly back together. It was right after the (Yankees') loss to Detroit," said Dave Conriguez, who works at the airport coffee shop near Stanger's flight school. "Tyler's such a great flight instructor that I never gave it a second thought. It was just, 'See you in a week."'

Lidle, 34, lived with his pregnant wife and 6-year-old son in Glendora, Calif., outside Los Angeles. He got his pilot's license during the off-season last year.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)