New York Breaking News

CLARENCE, N.Y. (CBS) ― Investigators say they are gathering pieces of the commuter plane that crashed into a home near Buffalo, killing all 49 people aboard and one person on the ground.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Steve Chealander said early Saturday morning that they also have begun to undertake the somber task of removing the remains of victims. He said that the task could take several days.

NTSB officials have said the crew of Continental Connection Flight 3407 noticed significant ice buildup on the wings and windshield just before the aircraft plunged nose-first.

The flight data recorder indicates the plane's deicing equipment was in the "on" position, but it's not known whether the equipment was functioning.

Chealander said the icing on the plane is just one of several things they are looking at. Officials were using the cockpit recorder and flight data recover to figure out what caused the nation's first deadly crash of a commercial airliner in 2 1/2 years.

The plane, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprop, was operated by Manassas, Va.-based Colgan Air. It was en route from Newark to Buffalo when it went down in a residential area at approximately 10:20 p.m.

During a news conference on Friday, Chealander described the hazardous weather conditions that the crew recognized moments before the crash.

"The crew discussed significant ice buildup, ice on the windshield and leading edge on the wings," Chealander said. "Right after that 'severe pitch and roll' were the words that were used."

Chealander added that the pilots reported that the visibility was three miles with snow and mist in the vicinity, and that they "noticed it was rather hazy" as they descended.

The cause of the disaster remained under investigation, but other pilots were overheard around the same time complaining of ice building up on their wings as well -- a hazard that has caused major crashes in the past.

Witnesses heard the plane sputtering before it plunged squarely through the roof of the house, its tail section visible through flames shooting at least 50 feet high.

"The whole sky was lit up orange," said Bob Dworak, who lives less than a mile away. "All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook."

Dworak told CBS' The Early Show the home that was hit was "one giant pile of debris on fire," adding that homes in the neighborhood are only 30-to-40 feet apart.

He drove over to take a look, and "all we were seeing was 50-to-100-foot flames and a pile of rubble on the ground. It looked like the house just got destroyed the instant it got hit," he said.

President Barack Obama, at a 10:30 a.m. news conference expressed his condolences for the victims and directed praise at the first responders.

"Incidents like this remind us of how fragile life is," said Obama.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends who lost loved ones, and as always, our thanks go out to the brave first responders who arrived immediately to try and save lives, and who are still on the scene keeping people safe," said Obama.

Pinnacle Airlines, the parent company of Colgan Air, says the pilot was identified as Capt. Marvin Renslow, who joined the airline in September 2005 and had flown 3,379 hours with the carrier.

The first officer was Rebecca Shaw, who joined Colgan last January and had flown 2,244 hours with Colgan.

Flight attendants were Matilda Quintero, a Middlesex County resident, and Donna Prisco, who both began flying with Colgan in May.

Pinnacle says an off-duty crew member also was killed when the plane struck a home Thursday night. He was Capt. Joseph Zuffoletto.

Three people were inside the home when the plane hit. A 57-year-old woman and her 22-year-old daughter made it out, but a third person was killed. That person's name hasn't been released.

Officials are urging family members to call 1-800-621-3263 for information.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said there is "no indication of any security related event" that brought the plane down.

"Continental extends its deepest sympathy to the family members and loved ones of those involved in this accident," said Larry Kellner, chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines, in a later statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the family members and loved ones of those involved in the flight 3407 tragedy."

The plane departed from New Jersey, and although a complete passenger list has not been released, many Tri-staters suspect some of their very own will be among the deceased.

Maddy Loftus, from Parsippany, was a Buffalo State College graduate. Her brother told CBS 2 HD she was heading back to school for a reunion of the women's hockey team.

Audio of communication between air traffic controllers and the flights pilots didn't seem to reveal any telling details. 

Before the crash, the voice of a female pilot on Flight 3407 can be heard communicating with air traffic controllers, according to a recording of the Buffalo air traffic control's radio messages shortly before the crash captured by the Web site www.liveatc.net. Neither the controller nor the pilot exchanges any concerns that anything is out of the ordinary as the airplane is asked to fly at 2,300 feet.

A minute later, the controller tries to contact the plane but hears no response. After a pause, he tries to contact the plane again. Then the controller asks the pilot of a nearby Delta Air Lines plane to see if he can see the Continental flight.

"Delta 1998, look off your right side about 5 miles for a Dash 8 about 2,300 (feet). You see anything there?" he asks.

"Uh, negative," the Delta pilot says.

About three to four minutes after that, he tells an unidentified listener to contact authorities on the ground in the Clarence area.

"You need to find if anything is on the ground," the controller says. "All I can tell you is the aircraft is over the marker (landing beacon), and we're not talking to them now."

Later, he tells all aircraft monitoring the same frequency: "We did have a Dash 8 over the marker that didn't make the airport. He appears to be about five miles away from the airport."

Sue Bourque told the newspaper her sister, Beverly Eckert, was aboard the plane. Eckert is the widow of Sean Rooney, who was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Bourque said that while the family had not yet received official confirmation of her sister's fate, the reality was settling in.

"We know she was on that plane," she told the newspaper, "and now she's with him."

Clarence is a growing eastern suburb of Buffalo, largely residential but with rural stretches. The crash site is a street of older, single-family homes which apparently back up to wooded area.

Twelve homes were evacuated near the crash site, about 10 miles from the airport. The tail or part of a wing was visible through flames and thick smoke that engulfed the scene. While the fire was contained, smoke still billowed over the scene about four hours later. Houses in the neighborhood are only about 20-25 feet apart.

The house that was demolished was a two-story, wood-frame house that backed up to a large open field. 

Erie County Executive Chris Collins described the crash site as "surreal," with the tail of the plane sticking out of the ground.

The aircraft, carrying 5,000 pounds of fuel, apparently exploded on impact, he said. He said it hit only one home that happened to be next to a firehouse, allowing rescuers to arrive in seconds.

The crash came less than a month after a US Airways pilot guided his crippled plane to a landing in the Hudson River off Manhattan, saving the lives of all 155 people aboard. Birds had apparently disabled both its engines.

On Dec. 20, a Continental Airlines plane veered off a runway and slid into a snowy field at the Denver airport, injuring 38 people.

The newest member of Bombardier's Dash-8 class aircraft, the Q400 had its first flight in 1998 and entered commercial service in February 2000.

Details For Bombadier Q-400 (DH4)
Source: Colgan Air

(CBS/Colgan Air)

74-seat twin turboprop in single-class, four abreast configuration

Jet-like speed with state-of-the-art avionics

Performance profile allows operations below and away from congested airspace

"Q means Quiet" with advanced noise and vibration reduction

Full size cabin with 32" seat pitch and 6'5" of headroom

Two flight attendants for passenger safety and comfort

Continental Airlines short and medium haul in-flight service offerings

Arrives and departs at Terminal C at Newark Liberty Airport

Length 107' 9"
Height 27' 5"
Wingspan 93' 3"
Passengers 68-78
Engines 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. PW150
360 kts (414 mph)

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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