NY Plane Crash. 50 Killed.

[Pen Rua]

Sad news today. Story from BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7888843.stm).

Intense heat is preventing a full-scale investigation at the site where an aircraft crashed in New York state, killing 50 people late on Thursday.
The National Safety Transportation Board's Steve Chealander said there had been a big fire, fed by a gas leak.
But he said investigators had been permitted to foray into the site to look for the flight recorders, which might yield clues about the cause.
Continental Connection flight 3407 crashed into a house at 0310 GMT.
The death toll is thought to include 45 passengers and four crew on board, and one person on the ground.
Direct hit
TV footage showed a house engulfed in flames and the tail of the plane sticking out of the ground.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45474000/gif/_45474128_usa_buffalo_crash1_226.gif
Mr Chealander said little damage was sustained to houses around the one hit. Erie County Executive Chris Collins said there were three people in the house that was hit.
One died and the other two - believed to be a woman and child - managed to escape with apparently minor injuries, he said.
Hours later, the BBC's Laura Trevelyan in New York says the flames are still raging and it looks like it will be several hours before the full investigation can begin.
But the search is already under way for the flight recorders - which, if located, will be sent immediately to Washington for analysis, Mr Chealander said.
President Barack Obama said he and his wife Michelle were "deeply saddened" by the news.
"Our hearts go out to the families and friends of loved ones," he said, thanking the "brave first responders" who tried to save lives and make the area safe.
The twin-prop Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft, operated by Colgan Air for Continental Airlines, was flying from Newark airport in New Jersey to Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
It was snowing at the time, and other pilots had reported ice forming on the wings of their planes.
The pilot did not tell air traffic controllers of any problems during the flight, and a recording of communications appears normal until shortly before the crash.
'Dropped off radar'
Full story here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7888843.stm).
Just a note, it says in the article, there is 45 dead. The official figure stands at 50 now (49 on-board, 1 on the ground).

Sad, sad news. My thoughts with the family. No one knows how it happened. Terrorism? Computer? Human Error?

[Jeebus]

Sad news today. Story from BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7888843.stm).

Sad, sad news. My thoughts with the family. No one knows how it happened. Terrorism? Computer? Human Error?

They think it was ice. When it was descending it went through some patch of cold air and stuff.

[Yoki]

Isn't this like the 2nd plane accident within the span of 2 months?

[Butters]

A miracle is followed by a tragedy.

First: Hudson- 0 deaths
Now: New York- 50 deaths

that is horrible.

[kogeck]

My Spanish teacher told us about this in the morning. Devastating. And to think, I'm going to be on a plane in 4 days. Cross your fingers and hold your breath.

[REBEL]

i saw the title of this thread and almost didn't believe it, cause i'm 20 miles away from the city and i didn't hear of anything going on.
my heart goes out to the loved ones' families, however. :[ rip.

[Freebee93]

Why do all the planes have to crash in my state? All those poor people....

[Jenny 867-5309]

Wow...that's very sad.That is the second plane crash in New York in 1 month.

[link4562]

I saw that. I bet it was a Terrorist Attack.jkIt was on the today show, they said its a newer plane model, which has ice breakers. The pilot never signalled a mayday call.

[Steve Green]

Thats sad to hear, it would have been great if another miracle happend and nobody died.

[conman1001]

Glad I went for my plane trip before this or else I'd be really scared.

[Dragonair]

WASHINGTON (Feb. 13) - One of the victims of Continental Flight 3407, Beverly Eckert, was a Sept. 11 widow who put her never-ending grief to good use to make the country safer.

Just last week, Eckert was at the White House with Barack Obama, part of a meeting the president had with relatives of those killed in the 2001 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole to discuss how the new administration would handle terror suspects.

"She was such an important part of all of our work," said Mary Fetchet, another 9/11 family activist. She learned Eckert was aboard the plane from another close Eckert family friend now headed to Buffalo. Officials investigating the crash have not yet confirmed she was on board the plane.

Eckert, who was flying to Buffalo to celebrate what would have been her husband Sean Rooney's 58th birthday, was one of the most visible, tearful faces in the aftermath of the terror attacks.

She cried as she told the story about how her husband — her high school sweetheart — was on the phone in the World Trade Center telling her he loved her when suddenly there was a loud explosion and nothing more.

She carried that grief to Congress as she tried to make the government do a better job protecting its citizens from terrorism.

Eckert was part of a small group of Sept. 11 widows, mothers, and children who became amateur lobbyists, ultimately forcing lawmakers in 2004 to pass sweeping reforms of the U.S. intelligence apparatus.

They spent months walking the halls of Congress. All of the women were grieving, but Eckert seemed unable or uninterested in holding back her tears.

When it was over and they'd won passage of the intelligence reform law, Eckert vowed to quit her high-profile role "cold turkey." All she wanted, she said, was to go home, buy groceries,
and return to something like a regular life.

"I did all of this for Sean's memory, I did it for him," she said, crying again. "There is a euphoria in knowing that we reached the top of the hill. ... I just wanted Sean to come home
from work. Maybe now, someone else's Sean will get to come home."

Eckert was flying to her hometown Thursday night when the plane crashed on approach to the Buffalo airport.

The names of passengers have not been officially released, although information about some of those on board has trickled out. Airline officials identified the crew as Capt. Marvin Renslow, pilot; first officer Rebecca Shaw; and flight attendants Matilda Quintero and Donna Prisco. An off-duty crew member on board was Capt. Joseph Zuffoletto.

After the 2001 attacks, Eckert co-chaired the 9/11 Family Steering Committee, a group of activists devoted to exposing government failures that led up to the 2001 attacks, and fixing them.

She pushed for a 9/11 Commission. She pushed the Bush administration to provide more information to the commission. And when the commission's work was over, she pushed Congress to adopt their recommendations.

It was not an easy role for her.

One night after a long day at Congress, she found herself in the New York City train station, without a connecting train to her Connecticut home.

"We slept in the train station. We had no place else to go. That's when you look at yourself and say, 'What am I doing? How can we possibly get this done?'."

As Congress hemmed and hawed, Eckert vowed to sleep there, too, if it would get the law passed.

After the law passed, Eckert turned her energies to Habitat for Humanity, helping build homes for low-income families.

"I'm in shock, I just can't believe it," said Carie Lemack, whose mother died Sept. 11 on one of the hijacked planes. "Beverly had a can-do attitude about everything, and she never gave up."

I found that as one of the stories on my homepage. I think it is so sad. My mother actually ended up crying as I told her about it. Also, to be truthful, I am actually kind of scared to ride in a plane now considering all the crashes that have been happening.

[Mook]

I heard about the plane crash when I got up this morning. It is horrible.

If the plane crashed in the Hudson and killed people along with this killings of people that would of been 2 crashes in about a month and would of tooken down the plane industry. It was all thanks to the staff on the plane that saved the plane on the Hudson River.

Anyways, I hope the familys and loved ones are alright and everyone who died rest in peace.

[Pen Rua]

Just found out:

The conclusion of the investigation says the plane was on auto-pilot when it crashed. A violation of the company's "flying in icy conditions" policy.