RepoMan 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 Yahoo News CLARENCE, N.Y. – A commuter plane crashed into a suburban Buffalo home and erupted in flames late Thursday, killing all 48 people aboard and one person on the ground, authorities said. Flames silhouetted the shattered home after Continental Connection Flight 3407 plummeted into it around 10:20 p.m. "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 to Buffalo Niagara International Airport in light snow, fog and 17 mph winds. Dworak said while residents of his neighborhood about 10 miles from the Buffalo airport were used to planes rumbling overhead, but this one sounded louder than usual, sputtered and made some odd noises. After hearing the crash, he 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," he said. 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. 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. Prior to the crash, the voice of a female pilot on Continental Flight 3407 can be heard communicating with air traffic controllers, according to a recording of the Buffalo air traffic control's radio messages shortly before the crash captured by the Web site http://www.liveatc.net. Neither the controller nor the pilot exchange any concerns that anything is out of the ordinary as the airplane is asked to fly at 2,300 feet. A minute later, the controller tries to contact the plane but hears no response. After a pause, he tries to contact the plane again. Then the controller asks the pilot of a nearby Delta Air Lines plane to see if he can see the Continental flight. "Delta 1998, look off your right side about 5 miles for a Dash 8 about 2,300 (feet). You see anything there?" he asks. "Uh, negative," the Delta pilot says. Houston-based Continental Airlines issued a statement saying that preliminary information showed the plane carried 44 passengers and a crew of four. "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. 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. Clarence emergency control director Dave Bissonette said the crash killed one person on the ground. Manassas, Va.-based Colgan did not immediately return telephone calls. The Federal Aviation Administration had no immediate comment. Twelve homes were evacuated near the crash site, about 10 miles from the airport. The tail or part of a wing was visible through flames and thick smoke that engulfed the scene. Two women believed to be residents of the neighborhood were being treated at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital for what were described as non-life threatening injuries, hospital spokesman Michael Hughes said. They were transported by ambulance approximately 11:35 p.m. 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. ___ This is all really surreal for me right now. I usually fly out of Buffalo and it's seeing something happening in this area being live on all the national news channels and to watch the local Buffalo stations covering a tradegy like this. I just saw that guy talking about his dead sister on CNN, he was so eriely calm about it. It's going to be hard to sleep tonight. Witnesses have been saying the saw it noisedive into the ground. I bet it has something to do with ice screwing with the flaps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 I'm from Buffalo! ... That's all the news I have to report. I was at work about 10 minutes from the crash site I guess. They pretty much shut down Clarence...so I didn't bother driving over for a look. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 Oh...and if it has anything to do with weather then I don't know how a plane has EVER landed in this town. It's not even remotely bad out there compared to what it can get like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrVenkman PhD 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 Let me know when it's not too soon to make light of the events by asking what a Buffalo Plan is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 It involves Beer, Chicken Wings and lack of employment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Baron 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 Shame since I know lots of friends and family in and around the area fly out of the Buffalo Airport instead of either Hamilton or Toronto and I have been looking into flying back into Buffalo over the summer time. Flying into Toronto/Hamilton can be tricky at times, but I've heard Buffalo is a bitch with bad weather. I know my finance has family living in Williamsville which isn't far from the site, so I will probably hear about it tomorrow. Shame to hear this happen, but it looks like and by judging so far it has to be the frost from the wings if it was going into a nose dive. Clarence is out near East Amherst, correct BPS? Well, it looks like there will be more abandoned homes now in Buffalo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 Yeah that's right. I'm telling you the weather shouldn't have been able to affect anything here. I've lived in this town for 29 years and this wasn't even a bad day. I listen to the national coverage and they talk about the sleet and snow and I look outside and it looks like spring. That's an overstatement obviously...but it's not even bad out there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Baron 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 I don't blame ya. I've heard all the bad weather from Buffalo and seen some nasty ass stuff myself, but what I think it is, it is most likely as someone else pointed out, that frost had to do something with the wings. Or Canadian Geese attacking your planes again Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
milliondollarchamp 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 There was a woman onboard the plane that lost her husband on 9/11 and was coming home to honor his bithday and start a scholarship in his honor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Obi Chris Kenobi 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 UK News Reports suggest that ice formed on the wings causing it to lose uplift. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YourKock'sReallyGreat 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 There was a woman onboard the plane that lost her husband on 9/11 and was coming home to honor his bithday and start a scholarship in his honor. That is some fucked up shit. I came on here to post that. What did that woman do to deserve that fate? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SuperJerk 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2009 Is New York allergic to air planes or something? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
treble 0 Report post Posted February 14, 2009 There was a woman onboard the plane that lost her husband on 9/11 and was coming home to honor his bithday and start a scholarship in his honor. That is some fucked up shit. I came on here to post that. What did that woman do to deserve that fate? Ann Coulter must be happy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Baron 0 Report post Posted February 14, 2009 Is New York allergic to air planes or something? Must be something about Canada. Canada geese, Bombardier airplane. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Niggardly King 0 Report post Posted February 14, 2009 There was a woman onboard the plane that lost her husband on 9/11 and was coming home to honor his bithday and start a scholarship in his honor. The fucking conspiracy theorists are stating this was a set-up since she sued the government and consistently lobbied for an Investigative Commission. She was a co-founder for the committee group Voices For Sept. 11 and last week was at the White House to talk with President Obama about how the new administration could deal with terror suspects. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
