Tragedy in Buffalo

As many of you have heard...

A commuter plane crashed in Clarence Center New York last night, Continental flight 3407.

Here's some info...
*A commuter flight..is just that, a small plane that commutes a smaller number of passengers to various locations...this particular flight was coming from Newark New Jersey.

This is the type of plane that crashed

*Planes fly over Clarence and the surrounding areas en route to the airport..so the sound of engines overhead is not uncommon.

*Clarence Center and the surrounding area is a very rural area.


*Clarence Schools have been closed today.

*The plane crashed into a house and exploded on impact. One man in the house died and two others escaped with minor injuries.



*49 people on board died..44 passengers and 5 crew members, including one off duty pilot.

*9 fire departments have been on the scene since it happened


*This is the worst aviation disaster in Western New York History

*The worst aviation disaster since 2001.

*All that is left of the plane is the tail.

*The fire is still smoldering and is considered a 'hot spot' this morning.



Clarence Center is pretty close to us..in fact some very good friends in our ward live 1/4 of a mile from the crash. I finally got a hold of her this morning and, as you can imagine she was very shaken up...her house was right in the crash line. She told me they heard the crash and all the sirens and could see the flames from their house.
R and I were awake when this happened and I remember hearing all of these sirens around 10:30...I didn't think much of it because we are on an ambulance route and its very natural to have one go speeding by at any hour of the night..but it did strike me as funny that so many were going at once.
Obviously..a very tragic event in our community and our hearts go out to the family members of the victims and all who are impacted by this horrific event.