Forty-nine people have died after a passenger plane crashed into a house in Buffalo, New York state, local officials have said.
Forty-nine people have died after a passenger plane crashed into a house in Buffalo, New York state, local officials have said.
State police said all 44 passengers and 4 crew on board the Newark to Buffalo flight were killed. One person on the ground was reported to have also died.
State police said all 44 passengers and four crew on the Newark to Buffalo flight were killed. A county official said one person on the ground died.
The twin-prop Continental Connection Flight 3407 came down 10 miles (16km) from Buffalo airport at 2210 (0310GMT).
The Continental Connection Flight 3407 was five minutes from Buffalo airport when it came down at 2210 (0310 GMT).
TV footage showed the wreckage of the plane and a house engulfed in flames.
TV footage showed the wreckage of the plane and a house engulfed in flames.
Twelve other homes were evacuated around the crash site in the town of Clarence Center, a suburb of Buffalo.
State police spokeswoman Rebecca Gibbons said that of the 48 people on the plane, "there were no survivors."
State police spokeswoman Rebecca Gibbons said that of the 48 people on the plane, "there were no survivors."
Dave Bissonet, the emergency control director in Clarence, the suburb of Buffalo where the plane crashed, said one person on the ground had been killed.
Dave Bissonet, the emergency control director in Clarence, said one person on the ground had been killed.
Two people not on the plane were taken to hospital with minor injuries, CNN said.
'Thinking the worst'
Continental Express flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air, had reportedly been delayed on departure, and was approaching the airport in Buffalo two hours later than scheduled.
The twin-prop Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft, operated by Colgan Air, was flying from Newark airport in New Jersey to Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
Twelve houses near the crash site were evacuated, because of concerns about the fuel left on the crashed Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft.
There was reported to be light snow and fog at the time.
"Right now I'm thinking the worst," said Chris Kausner, who said his sister Elise was on the flight.
It sounded quite loud, and then the sound stopped. Then one or two seconds later, there was a thunderous explosion. Eyewitness David Luce
"And I'm thinking about the fact that my mother has to fly home from Florida and what I'm going to tell my two sons."
Aviation officials at Niagara airport said there was little communication with the plane before the crash.
"I was told by the tower the plane simply dropped off the radar screen," Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority spokesman C Douglas Hartmayer was quoted by the Buffalo News as saying.
Federal Aviation Administration is sending a team of investigators to the scene.
David Luce, who lives 150 yards from the crash site, said he heard the plane moments before the crash.
"It sounded quite loud, and then the sound stopped," he said.
"Then one or two seconds later, there was a thunderous explosion. I thought something hit our house. It shook our whole house."
Chris Kausner said his sister Elise, a law student, was on the flight.
"I'm thinking about the fact that my mother has to fly home from Florida and what I'm going to tell my two sons."
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