Connecticut plane crash

As many as six people may have died when small plane crashed into a residential neighborhood a few blocks from an airport while trying to land, engulfing two houses in flames, authorities said.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Robert Gretz said at a news conference Fridaythere were reports of two or three people on the plane and two or three victims on the ground in the working-class East Haven neighborhood.

Late Friday, officials from a number of agencies were still at the scene trying to determine how many people had been killed. Two bodies were found earlier in one of the homes.

The Daily Astorian newspaper of Oregon reported Friday that the pilot was Bill Henningsgaard, a 54-year-old former Microsoft executive who was traveling with his 17-year-old son, Maxwell.

The father, a resident of Medina, Wash., and his son were touring colleges on the East Coast, the pilot's brother, Blair Henningsgaard, told The Wall Street Journal.

The multi-engine, propeller-driven plane struck the small homes while trying to land in rainy weather at Tweed New Haven Airport.

Firefighters found both homes engulfed in flames when they arrived.

Authorities at the scene initially said there were three missing victims, including one person on the plane and two children in one of the houses, ages  1 and 13.

Less than two hours later, Malloy said rescuers had spotted two bodies, including one of an adult, but hadn't recovered them. The plane's fuselage had entered one of the houses, and the recovery effort was focusing on the home's basement, he said.

Mayor Joseph Maturo said later that the houses were still unstable and crews had not completed a full search.

East Haven fire Chief Douglas Jackson said Friday afternoon: "We haven't recovered anybody at this point, and we presume there is going to be a very bad outcome."

The Federal Aviation Administration says the Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B aircraft flew out of Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and crashed as it approached Tweed New Haven at 11:25 a.m. Friday.

Neighbor David Esposito said he heard a loud noise and then a thump. "No engine noise, nothing," he said.

He also said he heard a woman screaming that her children were inside the burning home. He said he ran into the upstairs of the house, where the woman believed her children were, but they could not find them. They returned downstairs to search, but he dragged the woman out when the flames became too strong.

Frank Diglio, 55, told the Hartford Courant that he was driving nearby and pulled over when he saw people screaming and crying. Diglio said he and another man tried digging through the room to find the children, but were forced to leave after 10 minutes when the fire at the house became intense.

"The plane was burning slow and then it started really burning," he told the newspaper. "The fire engines arrived in like 10 minutes. They came real quick and they told us all to move. The house got really out of control."

Police cordoned off the area, and smoke could be seen rising from between the two houses. Parts of the plane's wing were visible in the wreckage and a portion of the roof of one of the houses had collapsed, Reuters reported.

Tweed's airport manager, Lori Hoffman-Soares, said the pilot had been in communication with air traffic control and did not issue any distress calls.

"All we know is that it missed the approach and continued on. There were no distress calls as far as we know," she said.

Another neighbor, Pablo Arenas, said he and his neighbors live in fear of the planes. He said some pilots appear to be novices in training, while others said planes often fly low and larger aircraft have begun using the airport in recent years.

Maturo, the mayor, said a priest was with the woman whose children were feared dead, and he offered sympathy to the family.

"It's total devastation in the back of the home," he said.

Neighbors said the woman moved into the neighborhood recently.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/10/small-plane-crashes-into-connecticut-home/?test=latestnews#ixzz2bYuOHEyl