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Commuter Plane Crashes Into Home in Upstate New York, 50 Dead
FireRescue/FFN Interviews
• Incident Commander: "One of the Biggest, Hottest Fires I’ve Ever Seen"
• Responding Chief: "We Knew It Wasn't Going To Be a Rescue Mission"
By JOHN WAWROW
Associated Press Writer
CLARENCE, N.Y. (AP) -- 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 water on a fire on Clarence Center Road involving an airplane and a home Thursday Feb. 12, 2009. New York state police say a 50-passenger commuter plane has crashed into a home in suburban Buffalo. There was no immediate information on injuries. State Trooper John Manthey says the plane hit a house in Clarence around 10:10 p.m. Thursday. (AP Photo/Harry Scull Jr -The Buffalo News)
A plane burns after it crashed into a house in Clarence Center, N.Y., Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. New York State Police say the plane was a 50-passenger commuter aircraft. (AP Photos/David Duprey)
Update: Fire Station a Block from Crash As CNN and others are reporting, the crash occured just around the corner from the local fire department, the Clarence Center Volunteer Fire Company. The department updated its site early Friday morning, posting the following note:
From STATter911.com: On this map A is the Clarence Center VFC at 9415 Clarence Center Road. The crash site, B on the map, is reported to be 6050 Long Street, around the corner from the firehouse. Click the image for more.
Related Stories/Sites
(AP Photos/David Duprey)
Firefighter Nation will have updates on the story throughout the day
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.
"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."
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.
A minute later, the controller tried to contact the plane but heard no response. After a pause, he tried to contact the plane again.
Eventually he told an unidentified listener to contact authorities on the ground in the Clarence area.
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.
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.
"At this time, the full resources of Colgan Air's accident response team are being mobilized and will be devoted to cooperating with all authorities responding to the accident and to contacting family members and providing assistance to them," the statement said.
"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.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
• Incident Commander: "One of the Biggest, Hottest Fires I’ve Ever Seen"
• Responding Chief: "We Knew It Wasn't Going To Be a Rescue Mission"
By JOHN WAWROW
Associated Press Writer
CLARENCE, N.Y. (AP) -- 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 water on a fire on Clarence Center Road involving an airplane and a home Thursday Feb. 12, 2009. New York state police say a 50-passenger commuter plane has crashed into a home in suburban Buffalo. There was no immediate information on injuries. State Trooper John Manthey says the plane hit a house in Clarence around 10:10 p.m. Thursday. (AP Photo/Harry Scull Jr -The Buffalo News)
A plane burns after it crashed into a house in Clarence Center, N.Y., Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. New York State Police say the plane was a 50-passenger commuter aircraft. (AP Photos/David Duprey)
Update: Fire Station a Block from Crash As CNN and others are reporting, the crash occured just around the corner from the local fire department, the Clarence Center Volunteer Fire Company. The department updated its site early Friday morning, posting the following note:
"The Clarence Center Volunteer Fire Company has all of those families that were touched by this tragedy in our prayers. We only wish that we could have done more for the victims both on the plane and on the ground. Thank you for all of your kind words and thoughts for our fire company. Our members are also having to deal with this unbelievable tragedy that has come to our small town."
From STATter911.com: On this map A is the Clarence Center VFC at 9415 Clarence Center Road. The crash site, B on the map, is reported to be 6050 Long Street, around the corner from the firehouse. Click the image for more.
• Listen: Audio of Air Traffic Control
• Listen: Fireground Audio from MCFW.com
Related Stories/Sites
- WKBW Video
- Statter911: Commercial Plane Down
- Buffalo News: Plane Crashes Into Home in Clarence Center - Photo Gallery
- Erie County, NY Fire Safety Division
(AP Photos/David Duprey)
Firefighter Nation will have updates on the story throughout the day
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.
"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."
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.
A minute later, the controller tried to contact the plane but heard no response. After a pause, he tried to contact the plane again.
Eventually he told an unidentified listener to contact authorities on the ground in the Clarence area.
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.
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.
"At this time, the full resources of Colgan Air's accident response team are being mobilized and will be devoted to cooperating with all authorities responding to the accident and to contacting family members and providing assistance to them," the statement said.
"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.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nicholas Baes on
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49 Killed
44 paggengers on the plane
4 crew
1 Resident
Injured
2 residents
Flight Details
Origin: New York, NJ (Newark Liberty International Airport )
Destination: Buffalo, NY (Buffalo Niagara International Airport)
Travel Date(s): February 12, 2009
Airline: Continental Airlines
Operated By: Colgan Air Dba Continental Connection
Flight Number: 3407
Aircraft: DH4 (de Havilland DHC-8 Dash 8-400 Dash 8Q)
Classes Offered: Economy
Departure Time: 7:10 pm
Arrival Time: 8:48 pm
Stops: Non-Stop
Travel Time: 1 hour(s) 38 minutes
Terminal: Terminal C
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Permalink Reply by Regan on
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First time in my 30 years on earth that anything like this has happend so close to home, my thoughts and prayers to the loved ones of those lost in the horrific accident.
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Permalink Reply by Rachel... on
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The besty thing we can do as a country united is to pray for the victims of this tragedy....as well as the safety of the emergency workers.....
Rachel....
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Permalink Reply by Jason Lonecke on
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If anyone can find any information on the victims, particularly the fatality on the ground, please let me know. I know its early, but the house is a friend's parent's home and her father is unaccounted for.
Thanks.
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Permalink Reply by LadyChaplain on
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Thoughts and prayers to all of those who have been affected by this terrible tragedy. I have friends who are firefighters from the responding 13 departments and have been keeping tabs on them throughout the night. This is truly a frightening situation, but as us Buffalonians do - we will come together to support each other in this time of hardship.
With Many Blessings,
LC
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Permalink Reply by Dennis Brown on
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My thoughts & prayers go out to the familys of flight 3407
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Permalink Reply by Joe Zamgulis on
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I'm wondering if it was a deliberate thought on the part of the one firefighter in the raw video footage to have shined a light directly at the camera. If not it did still seem to have the effect of moving the camerman back. It might be an effective tactic to use in the future when onlookers with cameras threaten the privacy of a accident scene.
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Permalink Reply by Tom Chmielowiec Jr. on
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Death toll has now been increased to 50- 44 passengers, 4 crew, 1 resident, and 1 crew member hitching a ride to Buffalo
My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved, family, friends, victims, and all emergency personel who responded
Junior
Omnis Cedo Domus
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Permalink Reply by Therle on
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This is a tragic event, and too many in the State of New York in such a short period of time. The miracle of the landing on the Hudson was a sharp warning that there are dangers, seen or unseen, in the New York air transportation system. These are complex issues that will require time and genuine thinking to resolve.
The technical truth is that the left wing dipped suddenly according to eyewitnesses, and the nose of the aircraft was pointed sharply down, both of which could be indications of ice and the pilot's attempts to regain control. There were no signs of a mechanical failure, and reports of icing 10-20 miles from the airport in the vicinity of 1500 to 3000 feet, which was roughly where the aircraft was.
Firefighters on scene did apparently use their lights to "shine" the video cameras of gawkers, so some of the footage is poor quality. While we have the understanding that news reporters have the grim task of reporting these events (even when we might find their methods morose), they are a resource for us, and in that sense a part of our team. But private citizens are neither trained in the neutral recording of such events, nor the professional decorum required to interact with our crews or the environment of an emergency. It sounded like the cameraman started to ask the firefighters something, which caused one of them to turn his light in that direction, and the footage is probably cut because he was told less than politely to go away.
We will only be able to wait now for word of the cause of the crash, while our hearts go out to the families affected by this sad event.
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