I. M. Esperto
16th Nov 2002, 19:09
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1037441721293180.xml
Top News
Small planes crash near Essex airport, killing at least 2
Saturday, November 16, 2002
BY MARK MUELLER AND RUSSELL BEN-ALI
Star-Ledger Staff
Two small planes collided in midair last night on approach to Essex County Airport in Fairfield, killing at least two people on board the aircraft, raining debris onto a terrified neighborhood and triggering a frenzied emergency response, officials said.
Wreckage from the crash narrowly missed homes and businesses along Route 46, less than a mile west of the airport, but there were no casualties on the ground, according to aviation and emergency response officials.
"We are very fortunate that homes in the area were not affected," said Fairfield Mayor Muriel Shore. "We're very fortunate no one (on the ground) was hurt."
Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said a passenger seat of one plane was missing, and police in a helicopter were using infrared heat detectors to search for evidence and other possible victims in a mixed commercial and residential neighborhood between Route 46 and the West Caldwell border.
Robert Gretz of the National Transportation Safety Board, which will investigate the cause of the crash, said it was not known whether the planes were attempting to land.
But Fontoura said one plane was in a landing pattern and the other, which was based at the airport, was practicing "touch and go" landings and was turning in toward a landing pattern when they got too close and clipped one another. The weather and visibility were clear at the time.
"We assume both planes were in contact with the control tower," said airport manager Tom Gomez. The NTSB said it would review radio transmission tapes between the aircraft and the control tower.
Debris was strewn a half to three-quarters of a mile from Law Street near Route 46 past Plog Road. One plane landed in the front yard of an unoccupied house on Plog Road, a short street off Fairfield Road with just a few houses. The wreckage of the other plane landed in the front yard of a home on Fairfield Road and caught fire.
Barbara Giglio said she was getting a manicure in a nearby shopping center and ran to the wreckage on Fairfield Road.
"It was just a bunch of flames, eight feet tall, flames spreading around," she said. "The whole thing just burned up."
Airport workers saw and heard the crash shortly after 7 p.m.
Jason Ribik, a flight instructor at Air Fleet Training System, said he was taking off with a student at the airport when he saw the planes collide and crash straight down.
"We saw them getting too close and said, 'Are they going to hit each other?' and sure enough they hit," Ribik said. "One went straight down. The other one looked like it could make it, but then it went straight down."
The crash site is just south of busy Route 46. Essex County Airport, formerly known as Caldwell Airport, is used by small planes, helicopters and executive jets.
Micah Rasmussen of the state Department of Transportation said one of the planes had last taken off from Alexandria Airport in Hunterdon County with one person on board.
There were discrepancies last night in the identification of the two aircraft.
One plane, a four-seater registered to Kenneth Klass of Roslyn, Pa., was described as a Mooney 20 by the FAA and as a Cessna 172 by the NTSB. The other, a six-seater registered to C.L. Flyers of Dover, Del., was described as a Piper PA- 32 by the FAA and a Piper Lance by the NTSB.
The crash brought emergency personnel and equipment to the scene in droves, with police, firefighters and rescue workers descending on the crash site. Local hospitals were placed on alert for victims.
As neighbors milled about and gawked at the wreckage, firefighters fanned out in teams to locate remains of the pilots. Armed with flashlights, the yellow-coated firefighters stood in horizontal lines, about five paces apart, and slowly made their way through side yards, woods and parking lots near the crash scene.
The plane that came down off Plog Road landed just across the street from the Bavarian Inn on Fairfield Road.
"The whole body of the plane is there, but the nose is into the ground," inn manager Trish Sepulveres said.
"We grabbed the fire extinguisher and ran outside, but there was no fire," she added.
The inn's owner, Bill Elfers, said he was in the parking lot when the crash occurred.
"I was standing outside with one of my waitresses when I saw the plane coming right down," he said. "It hit a tree and came straight down.
"As it was coming at me, I ran away from the scene. I ran this way (into the parking lot), but still I kept my eye on the plane. I knew he was going to hit the Bavarian Inn. Fortunately, the tree was there and held it back.
"Before that, it sounded like there was a collision in the air," he added. "He must have hit another plane and he tried to come down and land.
"I ran to the scene and he (the pilot) looked like he was finished," Elfers said.
Eyewitness Nancy Laccitiello, who lives on Fairfield Road and works at the Bavarian Inn, was taking her dog for a walk at the time and said she almost got hit by debris.
"I had been at the Bavarian Inn to check in and also to walk my dog, since they can usually get him a piece of roast beef," she said. "I usually take the back way to our house, but tonight, I just decided to walk on Fairfield Road. As I'm walking, I suddenly heard a 'smack'. I looked up and suddenly there's this plane coming down toward me. It was spinning and I had no idea which way it was going or which way I should run, so I just stood there. When it landed in front of me, I just took off running as fast as I could the other way."
Only one tree off Fairfield Road was seriously damaged. She believes the wreckage that landed near her probably hit the tree first.
Anthony Intintola, a 45-year-old chiropractor with an office in the area, rushed back to work to assess the damage.
"There are pieces of plane scattered behind these houses," he said. He said he walked up to the crash site to view it first-hand. "It was just a mangled piece of metal," he said of the plane. "It's a miracle these houses did not get damaged."
Staff writers Rudy Larini, Guy Sterling, Robert Gebeloff and Kevin Coughlin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Top News
Small planes crash near Essex airport, killing at least 2
Saturday, November 16, 2002
BY MARK MUELLER AND RUSSELL BEN-ALI
Star-Ledger Staff
Two small planes collided in midair last night on approach to Essex County Airport in Fairfield, killing at least two people on board the aircraft, raining debris onto a terrified neighborhood and triggering a frenzied emergency response, officials said.
Wreckage from the crash narrowly missed homes and businesses along Route 46, less than a mile west of the airport, but there were no casualties on the ground, according to aviation and emergency response officials.
"We are very fortunate that homes in the area were not affected," said Fairfield Mayor Muriel Shore. "We're very fortunate no one (on the ground) was hurt."
Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said a passenger seat of one plane was missing, and police in a helicopter were using infrared heat detectors to search for evidence and other possible victims in a mixed commercial and residential neighborhood between Route 46 and the West Caldwell border.
Robert Gretz of the National Transportation Safety Board, which will investigate the cause of the crash, said it was not known whether the planes were attempting to land.
But Fontoura said one plane was in a landing pattern and the other, which was based at the airport, was practicing "touch and go" landings and was turning in toward a landing pattern when they got too close and clipped one another. The weather and visibility were clear at the time.
"We assume both planes were in contact with the control tower," said airport manager Tom Gomez. The NTSB said it would review radio transmission tapes between the aircraft and the control tower.
Debris was strewn a half to three-quarters of a mile from Law Street near Route 46 past Plog Road. One plane landed in the front yard of an unoccupied house on Plog Road, a short street off Fairfield Road with just a few houses. The wreckage of the other plane landed in the front yard of a home on Fairfield Road and caught fire.
Barbara Giglio said she was getting a manicure in a nearby shopping center and ran to the wreckage on Fairfield Road.
"It was just a bunch of flames, eight feet tall, flames spreading around," she said. "The whole thing just burned up."
Airport workers saw and heard the crash shortly after 7 p.m.
Jason Ribik, a flight instructor at Air Fleet Training System, said he was taking off with a student at the airport when he saw the planes collide and crash straight down.
"We saw them getting too close and said, 'Are they going to hit each other?' and sure enough they hit," Ribik said. "One went straight down. The other one looked like it could make it, but then it went straight down."
The crash site is just south of busy Route 46. Essex County Airport, formerly known as Caldwell Airport, is used by small planes, helicopters and executive jets.
Micah Rasmussen of the state Department of Transportation said one of the planes had last taken off from Alexandria Airport in Hunterdon County with one person on board.
There were discrepancies last night in the identification of the two aircraft.
One plane, a four-seater registered to Kenneth Klass of Roslyn, Pa., was described as a Mooney 20 by the FAA and as a Cessna 172 by the NTSB. The other, a six-seater registered to C.L. Flyers of Dover, Del., was described as a Piper PA- 32 by the FAA and a Piper Lance by the NTSB.
The crash brought emergency personnel and equipment to the scene in droves, with police, firefighters and rescue workers descending on the crash site. Local hospitals were placed on alert for victims.
As neighbors milled about and gawked at the wreckage, firefighters fanned out in teams to locate remains of the pilots. Armed with flashlights, the yellow-coated firefighters stood in horizontal lines, about five paces apart, and slowly made their way through side yards, woods and parking lots near the crash scene.
The plane that came down off Plog Road landed just across the street from the Bavarian Inn on Fairfield Road.
"The whole body of the plane is there, but the nose is into the ground," inn manager Trish Sepulveres said.
"We grabbed the fire extinguisher and ran outside, but there was no fire," she added.
The inn's owner, Bill Elfers, said he was in the parking lot when the crash occurred.
"I was standing outside with one of my waitresses when I saw the plane coming right down," he said. "It hit a tree and came straight down.
"As it was coming at me, I ran away from the scene. I ran this way (into the parking lot), but still I kept my eye on the plane. I knew he was going to hit the Bavarian Inn. Fortunately, the tree was there and held it back.
"Before that, it sounded like there was a collision in the air," he added. "He must have hit another plane and he tried to come down and land.
"I ran to the scene and he (the pilot) looked like he was finished," Elfers said.
Eyewitness Nancy Laccitiello, who lives on Fairfield Road and works at the Bavarian Inn, was taking her dog for a walk at the time and said she almost got hit by debris.
"I had been at the Bavarian Inn to check in and also to walk my dog, since they can usually get him a piece of roast beef," she said. "I usually take the back way to our house, but tonight, I just decided to walk on Fairfield Road. As I'm walking, I suddenly heard a 'smack'. I looked up and suddenly there's this plane coming down toward me. It was spinning and I had no idea which way it was going or which way I should run, so I just stood there. When it landed in front of me, I just took off running as fast as I could the other way."
Only one tree off Fairfield Road was seriously damaged. She believes the wreckage that landed near her probably hit the tree first.
Anthony Intintola, a 45-year-old chiropractor with an office in the area, rushed back to work to assess the damage.
"There are pieces of plane scattered behind these houses," he said. He said he walked up to the crash site to view it first-hand. "It was just a mangled piece of metal," he said of the plane. "It's a miracle these houses did not get damaged."
Staff writers Rudy Larini, Guy Sterling, Robert Gebeloff and Kevin Coughlin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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