Plane crash in upstate N.Y. kills 50

UPDATED:

A federal official says the crew of a commuter plane that crashed near Buffalo discussed “significant ice buildup” on the wings and windshield before the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Steve Chealander also says the twin turboprop aircraft went through a “severe pitch and roll” after positioning its flaps for a landing.

The twin turboprop aircraft — Continental Connection Flight 3407 from Newark, N.J. — was coming in for a landing when it went down in light snow and fog about 10:20 p.m. Thursday, about five miles short of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

Witnesses heard the plane sputtering before it plunged 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 from the crash site. “All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook.”

To hear the audio of air traffic control, click here.

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, as well as two members of jazz musician Chuck Mangione’s band. One person in the home was killed, and two others inside, Karen Wielinski, 57, and her 22-year-old daughter, Jill, escaped with minor injuries.

Federal investigators searched through the wreckage of the plane and demolished house for the black box recorders that could shed light on what went wrong, but they said the smoldering debris was still too hot to look for bodies.

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.

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.”

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