Continental Flight 3407 from Newark in New Jersey to Buffalo in New York ended in a tragic fate for all 48 passengers as it hit a house in Clarence at 10:10 pm. According to the Federal Aviation Administration the Continental Express Bombardier aircraft carried 44 passengers and a crew of four. At least one person reportedly died on the ground.
The crash of Continental_flight_3407/ destroyed one house completely and caused a blaze in the neighborhood that the firefighters had to battle. At least a dozen properties were evacuated from the scene of accident to prevent injuries and to make it easier for the firefighters to fight the spread of fire.
The Bombardier aircraft developed mechanical problems as it approached Buffalo Niagara Airport and according to Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority spokesman C. Douglas Hartmayer, the plane just dropped off the radar. There was very little communication between the plane and the control tower.
The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 twin-engine turboprop with a passenger capacity of about 74 went down in light snow, light fog and 17 mph winds. The plane was carrying around 5000 pounds of fuel and it exploded on impact. The burning jet fuel probably made survival that much more improbable for the ones caught in the flames.
The crash is America’s deadliest since a Comair commuter jet crashed in Lexington, Ky., on Aug. 27, 2006. That crash also claimed 49 lives.
Comments
Xerxy
February 13th, 2009 - 5:10:17 PM
Though aircraft safety has really improved, sadly these incidents still happen. Wonder what the cause was.