49 killed after plane crashes into a house in New York State

The plane carried 44 passengers and a crew of 4, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, the New York Times reported on its Web site.  Â

The Erie County executive, Chris Collins, later said at a news conference that 49 people, including one on the ground, were killed, the report added.

Continental Connection Flight 3407 was en route from Newark, New Jersey, when it went down, said Bill Peat with New York State Emergency Management in Albany, CNN reported.

 

The plane was a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, operated by Virginia-based Colgan Air.

The crash took place about seven miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Clarence Center, New York.

"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," a statement from the airline said.

The plane crashed about 10:20 p.m. (GMT 0220), hitting a home and bursting into a fireball, according to New York State Trooper John Manthey.

Twelve residents were evacuated from the area.

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, Kentucky, runway that was too short.

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.