50 Dead in Buffalo Commuter Plane Crash

[Fallen]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29173163/?GT1=43001



CLARENCE, New York - A commuter plane "basically dove" into a Buffalo-area house while coming in for a landing, sparking a fiery explosion that killed all 49 people on board and one person on the ground, an emergency official said Friday. It was the first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the United States in 2 1/2 years. Witnesses heard the twin turboprop aircraft sputtering before it went down in light snow and fog around 10:20 p.m. Thursday. Flames silhouetted the shattered home after Continental Connection Flight 3407 plummeted into it around about five miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

"The whole sky was lit up orange," said Bob Dworak, who lives less than a mile from the crash site. "All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook."

The 74-seat Q400 Bombardier aircraft, operated by Colgan Air, was flying from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and preparing to land at Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

No security link seen
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said there is "no indication of any security related event" that brought the plane down. Six hours after the crash, the task of retrieving remains had not yet begun. "It's still a hot scene," Clarence emergency control director Dave Bissonette said. "The fuselage lies right on the footprint of the house." The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team of crash investigators to Buffalo early Friday.

Residents describe odd noises
While residents of the neighborhood where the plane went down were used to planes rumbling overhead, witnesses said this one sounded louder than usual, sputtered and made some odd noises. After hearing the crash, Dworak drove over to take a look, 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." Witness Tony Tatro said he saw the plane flying low and knew it was in trouble. "It was not spiraling at all. The left wing was a little low," he told WGRZ-TV.

Mother and daughter escape home
One person in the home that the plane struck was killed, and two others inside were able to escape with minor injuries.

[Fallen]

None of you bastards posted this so I didn't know about it until I got into my car and heard it on NPR. Sad stuff. Scared the shit out of my friend. She travelled to Buffalo for a wedding recently, as did the rest of her family. Some of them were on continental flights that mirrored this one, only a day or so before.

[Ignot]

"Sue Bourque told The Buffalo News her sister, Beverly Eckert, was aboard the plane. Eckert is the widow of Sean Rooney, who was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack"

Boy, life sure is a bitch isn't it?

[CrystalTears]

50? Did someone else die afterwards? I had heard this morning of 49... 44 passengers, 4 crew, and the poor fucker in the house they crashed.

[Clove]

I can't imagine what the surviving family must be going through. Especially the survivors of the house that was hit. Imagine losing your spouse and pretty much everything you own in the blink of an eye.

que horrible.

[Allereli]

"Sue Bourque told The Buffalo News her sister, Beverly Eckert, was aboard the plane. Eckert is the widow of Sean Rooney, who was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack"

Boy, life sure is a bitch isn't it?

Yeah, she was from my hometown, too. From CNN:


Eckert, a resident of Stamford, Connecticut, is the widow of Buffalo native Sean Rooney, who died in the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. After that attack, Eckert co-founded "Voices of September 11," an advocacy group for survivors and 9/11 families.

She had been traveling to Buffalo for a weekend celebration of what would have been her husband's 58th birthday, according to the Buffalo News -- the first news agency to report her presence on the fatal flight.

Eckert also planned to take part in presenting a scholarship award -- established in honor of her late husband --at Canisius High School. Rooney was a Canisius alumni, according to the school's president, John Knight.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/13/plane.crash.victims/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

[Clove]

50? Did someone else die afterwards? I had heard this morning of 49... 44 passengers, 4 crew, and the poor fucker in the house they crashed.I guess it was either 44 passengers and 5 crew, or 45 passengers and 4 crew, plus one on the ground. Because the article is saying 49 on board and one in the house. Unless it's an error. I think it's safe to say regardless of the exact death-toll, the horror's the same.

[CrystalTears]

I guess it was either 44 passengers and 5 crew, or 45 passengers and 4 crew, plus one on the ground. Because the article is saying 49 on board and one in the house. Unless it's an error. I think it's safe to say regardless of the exact death-toll, the horror's the same.
Granted, it is horrible. I feel bad for their friends and relatives waiting for them only to find out they've crashed.

And that poor woman losing her house and husband. I'd die.

[Clove]

Granted, it is horrible. I feel bad for their friends and relatives waiting for them only to find out they've crashed.

And that poor woman losing her house and husband. I'd die.Yeah I don't know, I saw the same 49 count on CNN this morning. Either I saw it wrong, CNN was wrong (this morning), or this article was wrong. But... still, whatever the correct count- awful!

[phantasm]

49 or 50,i dont know, but I'm pretty sure this guy wasn't on board.







http://collegeotr.s3.amazonaws.com/images/blogs/e1df827a528cbf2d4fdd5d94c424f8f7.jpg

[TheEschaton]

This plane crashed about 1 mile from my old home, before my parents moved to Baltimore.

I hope no one I knew was on it - I was thinking if I knew anyone who would be flying from Newark to Buffalo, and was initially relieved because I don't know anyone who would ever be in NJ for any reason....except....Newark is often a better alternative to JFK or LaGuardia, and if you open up the possibilities to NYC...ugh.

No phone calls or EMails yet, but I'm sure Buffalo is small enough that I knew someone peripherally.

Oh, and Sean Rooney went to my high school (Canisius). It was a big deal when he died, two years after I graduated.

-TheE-

[The Ponzzz]

Ugh, yeah, when I was in Rochester, the Buffalo to Newark was the cheaper flight to NJ. That's some scary shit seeing we use to fly there about twice a year.

[TheEschaton]

I can't find a fucking public passenger list anywhere. :(

[Jorddyn]

I can't find a fucking public passenger list anywhere. :(

They're probably still doing notifications.