WORLD> Middle East
Fiery plane crash in upstate NY kills 50
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-13 22:11

CLARENCE, N.Y. – A Continental commuter plane coming in for a landing nose-dived into a house in suburban Buffalo, sparking a fiery explosion that killed all 49 people aboard and a person in the home. It was the nation's first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in 2 1/2 years.

Firefighters spray and foam at the scene where a plane crashed into a house and burned in Clarence Center, N.Y., Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. [Agencies] 

Witnesses heard the twin turboprop aircraft sputtering before it went down in light snow and fog around 10:20 p.m. Thursday about five miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Continental Connection Flight 3407 from Newark, N.J., came in squarely through the roof of the house, its tail section visible through flames shooting at least 50 feet high.

Related readings:
 Plane crash in NY kills 49 people

Backgrounder: Major US plane crashes since 2000
4 survive, 24 dead after Brazil plane crash
Amazon jet crash kills 24
Survivors offer praise, gratitude after NY crash
Eight killed in Russian helicopter crash
"The whole sky was lit up orange," said Bob Dworak, who lives less than a mile away. "All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook."

Two others in the house escaped with minor injuries. The plane was carrying a four-member crew and an off-duty pilot. Among the 44 passengers killed was a woman whose husband died in the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

By morning, with the rubble still smoking, the task of retrieving remains had not yet begun.

Erie County Emergency Coordinator David Bissonette said it appeared the plane "dove directly on top of the house."

"It was a direct hit," Bissonette said. "It's remarkable that it only took one house. As devastating as that is, it could have wiped out the entire neighborhood."

   Previous page 1 2 3 Next Page