Buffalo Continental Flight 3407 Crash Kills 50

By admin on February 13th, 2009

A Continental commuter plane coming in for a landing nose-”basically dove” into a house in suburban Buffalo, sparking a fiery explosion that killed all 49 people aboard and a person in the home. It was the nation’s first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in 2 and a half years.

Photo by Gary Wiepert-Reuters

Witnesses heard the twin turboprop aircraft sputtering before it went down in light snow and fog around 10:20 p.m. Thursday about five miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Continental Connection Flight 3407 from Newark, N.J., came in squarely through the roof of the house, its tail section visible through flames shooting at least 50 feet high.

Harry Scull Jr-AP
Volunteer firefighters are seen at the crash site of Continental Connection Flight 3407, outside of Buffalo, NY.