State Police Say All 48 People Onboard Continental Express Flight Killed As Ball Of Flame Engulfs House In Suburban Buffalo

BUFFALO, New York, Feb. 13, 2009
 (CBS/AP) *-- sphereit start *A commuter plane carrying 48 people crashed into a home in suburban Buffalo Thursday night, engulfing the house in flames and killing all those onboard.

State police told the Associated Press that all those on Colgan Air flight 3407 were killed in the crash.

Federal Aviation Administraion spokeswoman Laura Brown told CBS News that flight 3407, a Dash 8 commuter plane, crashed en route from Newark, New Jersey to Buffalo.

Brown said the plane went down just four to six miles short of the airport carrying 44 passengers and four crewmembers.

Clarence, New York emergency control director Dave Bissonet said one person on the ground was also killed in the fiery crash.

A neighbor from near the crash site posted video on YouTube of the scene soon after the impact.

Several injured people were taken from the scene to Erie County Medical Center for treatment.

The FAA says the aircraft was a Dash 8 Q400, an extended version of the Dash-8. It is a twin turbo-prop aircraft. The plane was on approach to Runway 23 when it crashed in Clarence at approximately 10:15 p.m.

There was light snow and visibility in the area at the approximate time of the crash was 1,100 feet, or "pretty low," according to FAA officials who spoke to CBS News.

Erie County Executive Chris Collins said crew members had reported mechanical problems as they approached Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

The FAA confirmed that 48 people had been onboard the plane, but that children sitting on an adult's lap were not counted, which could account for reports that 49 people were on flight 3407.

Colgan Air is a feeder airline for major carriers including Continental, United, and U.S. Airways. Flight 3407 was a Continental Express flight.

Officials speaking at the news conference in the suburb of Clarence, about 20 miles northeast of Buffalo, said family members of passengers aboard the flight should call 1-800-621-3263.

CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes reports that, before tonight, there had not been a single fatality from the crash of a U.S. air carrier in more than two years. A Continental jet went off the runway on takeoff in Denver in December 2008 and burst into flames, but no one was killed.