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

President Barack Obama voiced condolences, saying "our hearts go out to the families and friends who lost loved ones."

No mayday call came from the pilot before the crash, according to a recording of air traffic control's radio messages captured by the Web site LiveATC.net. Neither the controller nor the pilot showed concern that anything was out of the ordinary as the airplane was asked to fly at 2,300 feet. Airport officials said the plane simply fell off the radar screen.

Related readings:
Plane crash in upstate 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
After the crash, at least two pilots were heard on air traffic control messages saying they had been picking up ice on their wings.

"We've been getting ice since 20 miles south of the airport," one said.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of investigators to Buffalo. The Department of Homeland Security said there was no indication of terrorism.

While residents of the neighborhood were used to planes rumbling overhead, witnesses said it sounded louder than usual, sputtered and made odd noises.

David Luce said he and his wife were working on their computers when they heard the plane come in low.

"It didn't sound normal," he said. "We heard it for a few seconds, then it stopped, then a couple of seconds later was this tremendous explosion."

Dworak drove to the site, and "all we were seeing was 50 to 100 foot flames and a pile of rubble on the ground. It looked like the house just got destroyed the instant it got hit."

One person in the home was killed, and two others inside, Karen Wielinski, 57, and her 22-year-old daughter, Jill, were able to escape with minor injuries. Twelve homes were evacuated.

The plane was carrying 5,000 pounds of fuel and apparently exploded on impact, Erie County Executive Chris Collins said.

Firefighters got as close to the plane as they could, he said. "They were shouting out to see if there were any survivors on the plane. Truly a very heroic effort, but there were no survivors."

It was the first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the United States since Aug. 27, 2006, when 49 people were killed after a Comair jetliner took off from a Lexington, Ky., runway that was too short.

The 74-seat Q400 Bombardier aircraft was operated by Manassas, Va.-based Colgan Air.