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Fiery plane crash in upstate NY kills 50
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-13 22:11 About 30 relatives and others who arrived at the airport in the overnight hours were escorted into a private area and then taken by bus to a senior citizens center in the neighboring town of Cheektowaga, where counselors and representatives from Continental waited to help.
"Continental extends its deepest sympathy to the family members and loved ones of those involved in this accident," Continental chairman and CEO Larry Kellner said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the family members and loved ones of those involved in the flight 3407 tragedy." Chris Kausner, believing his sister was on the plane, rushed to a hastily established command center after calling his vacationing mother in Florida to break the news. "To tell you the truth, I heard my mother make a noise on the phone that I've never heard before. So not good, not good," he told reporters. The 9/11 widow on board was identified as Beverly Eckert. She was heading to Buffalo for a celebration of what would have been her husband's 58th birthday, said Mary Fetchet, a 9/11 family activist. Airline officials identified the crew as Capt. Marvin Renslow, pilot; first officer Rebecca Shaw and flight attendants Matilda Quintero and Donna Prisco. The off-duty crew member was Capt. Joseph Zuffoletto. Clarence is a growing eastern suburb of Buffalo, largely residential but with rural stretches. The crash site is a street of closely spaced, older, single-family homes that back up to a wooded area. The crash came less than a month after a US Airways pilot guided his crippled plane to a landing in the Hudson River off Manhattan, saving the lives of all 155 people aboard. Birds had apparently disabled both its engines. On Dec. 20, a Continental Airlines plane veered off a runway and slid into a snowy field at the Denver airport, injuring 38 people. Continental's release said relatives and friends of those on Flight 3407 who wanted to give or receive information about those on board could telephone a special family assistance number, 1-800-621-3263.
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