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Widow of 9/11 is one of 50 killed as plane hits New York town
Rashid Razaq13 Feb 2009
A September 11 widow died this morning in a New York plane crash that killed 49 other people.
All 45 passengers, including an off-duty pilot, and four crew on Continental Airlines flight 3407 died when it crashed into a house and exploded, only minutes from Buffalo airport in New York State.
One person on the ground also died when the passenger jet plunged to earth - although a mother and her young daughter had a remarkable escape when the pair, who were in the house at the time, managed to scramble to safety with only minor injuries
It emerged later that the widow of a man who died in the 2001 Twin Tower attacks was on the flight. Beverly Eckert was flying to Buffalo to celebrate what would have been her late husband Sean Rooney's 58th birthday. Mr Rooney, who worked for a risk management company, was 50 when he died in the World Trade Center.
He left a message on his wife's answerphone after the first plane crashed into the tower, saying: "There has been an explosion in World Trade One - that's the other building. It looks like a plane struck it. It's on fire at about the 90th floor. And it's, it's - it's horrible. Bye."
His wife later became the co-chair of the Voices of September 11th group. Her family have not received official confirmation of her death, but said she was on board the flight.
"We know she was on that plane and now she's with him," Ms Eckert's sister told the Buffalo News.
The 74-seat commuter jet from Newark in New Jersey crashed 10 miles from Buffalo airport at around 3.20am (10.20pm local time).
It departed two hours late and was travelling in light snow and fog.
An investigation has been launched into the cause of the crash, but FBI officials said there was no evidence of terrorism.
David Bissonette, emergency co-ordinator for Erie County, said the plane made "a direct hit", and the inferno had been so intense that the only recognisable piece of the plane was the tail.
He said: "It's remarkable that it only took one house. It could have easily taken the whole neighborhood."
Officials said there was no Mayday call and a woman pilot was communicating normally with air traffic controllers before the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 crashed.
Residents of the small town, who are used to low-flying aircraft, described how the plane came in loudly and lower than usual before it hit the house and exploded in a fireball.
Bob Dworak, 52, said he heard a bang and felt the ground shake.
He said: "We opened the door. You could smell smoke and the sky was all lit up. It looked like the house had just been completely levelled and there were probably flames 50 or 100 feet up in the air."
David Luce, who lives about 150 yards from the scene, said: "It sounded quite loud, and then the sound stopped. 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. If you heard that explosion, and you saw how fast the whole area was on fire, it was pretty clear that it was jet fuel burning."
Erie County official, Chris Collins, said a limited state of emergency had been declared and that relatives of the passengers had gathered at Buffalo airport. A command centre had been set up.
Flights from New York City to Buffalo, a regular commuter route of about one hour 20 minutes flying time, were delayed for more than five hours earlier in the day by 65mph winds, which left thousands of homes in the Eastern US without power and killed five people.
