49 killed in fiery US plane crash

A commuter jet crashed into a house in New York state on Thursday unleashing a fireball and killing all 48 passengers and crew and one person on the ground, officials said.

A series of explosions rocked the district and flames taller than nearby houses lit up the night sky and were still burning hours later.

Firefighters from a nearby firestation were quickly at the scene, but despite what one local official called "heroic" efforts, were unable to get to the passengers and crew trapped in the inferno.

The Continental Airlines Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 jet came down about five minutes before it was due to land in the city of Buffalo after a flight from Newark, New Jersey.

New York state governor David Paterson said "44 passengers were killed along with four crew members and at least one person on the ground."

An Erie County official said Continental Airlines flight 3407 crashed at 10:20pm (0320 GMT) in Clarence Center, New York just a few miles from the runway.

Air traffic controllers desperately tried to make contact with the pilot as the plane, operated by Colgan Air for Continental, approached Buffalo.

One controller asks another plane to look for it, according to a conversation aired by local television station WGRZ. He then asks someone to contact police on the ground.

"This aircraft was five miles out and now all of the sudden we have no response from this aircraft," he said.

A plane in the vicinity tells him, "we do have a Dash 8 that was over the mark that did not make the airport."

The Buffalo News newspaper reported 12 homes were evacuated due to the risk from the burning jet fuel. It was unclear home many homes were damaged.

Erie County Executive Chris Collins told CNN television the plane was carrying 5,800 pounds of jet fuel and turned into a fireball on impact.

"The tail of the plane is sticking out of the ground," he said. "Obviously, it exploded upon impact. So there was a lot of fire initially.

"It landed -- or it came down right next to the fire hall. So there were firemen on this scene within literally seconds of it going down.

"I can't say enough about what the firefighters did, rushing right in as you might expect they would -- a very heroic effort. But there were no survivors.

One witness, who gave his name only as Tony, told a local television station that the plane flew right over his car, "nose down."

"Left wing was slightly down, pitched sideways, if you will," he said. "It was on a direct line down."

David Luce, who lives near the crash scene, told the Buffalo News he heard a huge explosion and saw flames up to 50 feet in the air.

"It sounded quite loud, and then the sound stopped," Luce said. "Then one or two seconds later, there was a thunderous explosion. I thought something hit our house. It shook our whole house."

"There was the initial boom, and then these cannon shots ... these loud secondary explosions, and they went on for about 10 minutes."

After a few minutes, Luce said he walked out to take a look at the wreckage and saw the house was destroyed.

"The house was already flattened. There was no house, just a pile of rubble and still burning," he said.

There was snow and sleet in the area at the time of the crash, which is not unusual for the area this time of year.

Continental Airlines pledged its full support to Colgan Air, "so that together we can provide as much support as possible for all concerned."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the family members and loved ones of those involved in the flight 3407 tragedy," the airline's chief executive, Larry Kellner, said in a statement.