Publicist: 2 Mangione musicians die in plane crash!!
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 2:03 pm
CLARENCE, N.Y. – A commuter plane dropped out of the sky without warning and nose-dived into a suburban Buffalo house in a fiery crash that killed all 49 people aboard and one person in the home. It was the nation's first deadly crash of a commercial airliner in 2 1/2 years.
The cause of the disaster was under investigation, but other pilots were overheard around the same time complaining of ice building up on their wings — a hazard that has caused major crashes in the past.
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 around 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 away. "All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook."
Two others in the house escaped with minor injuries. 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.
A publicist for jazz musician Chuck Mangione says two members of Mangione's band were among those killed on the plane.
Publicist Sanford Brokaw identifies the band members as Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett.
Though no statement has been released by Mangione, who vanished years ago due to stress apparently caused by a licensing deal leading to people knowing who the hell he was, a note written on the wall of a bathroom stall at an Arlen, TX, Megalo-Mart read: "I'm in shock over the horrible, heartbreaking tragedy."
The cause of the disaster was under investigation, but other pilots were overheard around the same time complaining of ice building up on their wings — a hazard that has caused major crashes in the past.
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 around 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 away. "All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook."
Two others in the house escaped with minor injuries. 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.
A publicist for jazz musician Chuck Mangione says two members of Mangione's band were among those killed on the plane.
Publicist Sanford Brokaw identifies the band members as Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett.
Though no statement has been released by Mangione, who vanished years ago due to stress apparently caused by a licensing deal leading to people knowing who the hell he was, a note written on the wall of a bathroom stall at an Arlen, TX, Megalo-Mart read: "I'm in shock over the horrible, heartbreaking tragedy."