The National Transportation Safety Board said that NYC investment banker Jeffrey Buckalew told air traffic control that his small plane was icing up after taking off from Teterboro Airport on Tuesday. The Socata TBM-700 crashed onto 287 in Harding, NJ, killing Buckalew, his wife Corinne, their two children Jackson and Meriwther, as well as Buckalew's colleague Rakesh Chawla. more ›

Ten years ago today, American Airlines Flight 587 bound for the Dominican Republic took from the JFK Airport. Turbulent air led the co-pilot to use the rudder to keep the plane up, but the rudder broke off. All 260 people on board—251 passengers and 9 crew members— and five people on the ground were killed when the plane crashed into the quiet residential neighborhood of Belle Harbor Queens. This morning, Mayor Bloomberg will be joining hundreds to remember the victims at the Flight 587 Memorial 17 blocks from the actual crash site. more ›

Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo has asked the United States National Transportation Safety Board to assist in investigating why a Caribbean Airlines flight overshot a rainy runway, and crash-landed after departing from JFK airport on Friday evening. No one was killed in the crash, and according to the Post the worst injuries sustained were "a broken leg, bumps, cuts and bruises." more ›

A Guyana-bound plane that departed from JFK airport yesterday carrying 140 people crashed and broke into two pieces around 1 a.m. this morning, seriously injuring four, but miraculously caused no deaths. A woman on the plane said there was a loud noise as the plane landed, and everyone began screaming. "It was terror," she told a Guyanese news outfit, "I was praying to Jesus." more ›

The pilot of the plane that crashed in Armonk yesterday killing all four people on board had once safely landed his plane after its engines failed over Martha's Vineyard 15 years ago. 63-year-old Keith Weiner was an experienced pilot who lectured on emergency landings and would purposely turn off his engines at high altitudes to practice emergency procedures. "It must've been a mechanical failure," Weiner's 85-year-old father William—who is also a former pilot—tells the Post, "because my son wouldn't have failed." more ›

A small plane crashed in Armonk yesterday, killing four people, including two 14-year-old girls. The plane, which was piloted by Manhattan resident Keith Weiner and contained his wife, daughter, and her friend, had just taken off from Westchester County Airport when he contacted an emergency control tower to say they needed to make an emergency landing. "He was such a good pilot. He was meticulous, so careful. We used to practice what would happen in the event of an emergency like this -- something had to have gone horribly wrong," his 85-year-old father William Weiner, also a pilot, told the Post. more ›

A vintage plane fell into the Hudson River in upstate New York yesterday afternoon, killing its pilot. The state police say the pilot, Rhinebeck doctor Michael Faraldi, 38, was the only passenger and the plane is still submerged in the icy, muddy water near Kingston NY. According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, "Faraldi took off from Nashville, Tenn., in a 1969 BAC-167 Strikemaster jet."—City Room says it took off from Johnstown, Penn.—"The cause of the crash is unknown, but it appears to be accidental." more ›

A single engine DeHavilland DHC-3T carrying former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens crashed in southwest Alaska. The plane had nine people aboard, and at least five were killed. There are conflicting reports about Stevens' condition: CBS News reports, "A family friend told an NBC affiliate in Alaska that Stevens had been killed, but later said that the senator's death was not confirmed." Also on the plane, owned by Alaskan telecom GCI, was former NASA chief Sean O'Keefe. An NTSB "Go Team" is on the way to investigate the crash; the "Go Team" looks at "high profile" crashes. more ›

Just before 5:30 p.m. yesterday, a small private plane crashed near an airport in Fairfield, NJ, killing its three occupants, the pilot, Manhattan doctor Margaret Smith, 70, her stepson, Michael Ferguson, 44, and his wife Theresa. The Star-Ledger reports that the plane "crashed and burst into a fireball after an aborted landing at Essex County Airport." A witness said, "When the crash hit, you could tell it wasn’t a car. It was much louder than that." Smith was a professor at New York Medical College and had been a program director at St. Vincent's. The Post reports that Smith's plane, a Cirrus SR22 was "similar to the Cirrus that Yankee pitcher Corey Lidle and his instructor flew into an Upper East Side apartment building in 2006." more ›

Yesterday afternoon, a small two-seat private plane crashed into two commercial buildings in Bohemia, Long Island. One witness said, "I heard this boom! And I ran over here and saw the flames coming out of the plane." more ›

The 60-year-old President, the first lady and several military officials were killed in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia yesterday morning. Heavy fog had been reported in the area before the crash, but investigators still do not know what caused the crash. Kaczynski was traveling to Russia for the 70th anniversary of the Russian massacre of Polish prisoners of war in the village of Katyn. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appointed Vladimir Putin to head an inquiry commission at the scene of the crash, which former President Aleksander Kwasniewski called, “a damned place. It sends shivers down my spine.” more ›

Polish President Lech Kaczynski was killed early this morning in a plane crash at a Russian airport. CNN is reporting that there are no survivors from the 97 person flight, which included Kaczynski's wife and several military officials. Parliament Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski has taken over as President, and declared it "a time for national mourning." more ›

The 54-year-old crash victim died a week later, never having had the opportunity to discover his cards were missing. Later, reports the AP, Vassell and his girlfriend Lisa Dacosta racked up a $2,000 bill at Armani Exchange, Best Buy, gas stations and other stores. Police tracked them down yesterday and charged them with grand larceny and identity theft. But Longworth and county police agree that this wasn't an isolated incident. According to the Mid Hudson News, investigators have tied Vassell's name to an October of 2009 credit card theft from a patient in the ER. more ›

As we enter a new year, let's take a look back at what we looked back at in 2009! Here are some of our favorite flashbacks of an older New York. more ›

More on August's tragic small plane-tour helicopter crash over the Hudson: National Transportation Safety Board says that the small plane pilot "read back the wrong radio frequency to an air traffic controller but wasn't corrected." The pilot was never corrected and never got Newark Liberty Airport's right frequency; a minute later, his plane crashed with the helicopter. The NY Times points out, "The Teterboro controller did not catch the discrepancy in the readback. At the time, the controller, alone in the tower, was in the midst of a personal phone call, and in addition, there was other voice traffic on the radio frequency at that point." The plane's three occupants were all killed, as were the chopper's six. more ›

A small plane, approaching Teterboro Airport, crashed right by NJ's Route 46 around 3 a.m. this morning. MyFoxNY reports, "Port Authority officials say the pilot and co-pilot walked away from the scene. No one else was aboard the plane. One man was airlifted to St. Barnabas Medical Center with serious burns and the other was taken by ground to Hackensack Medical Center." According to witnesses, the plane, which had been carrying medical supplies, apparently overshot the airport and landed in a field by Route 46. The Star-Ledger says witnesses saw a fireball. The men were able to crawl out of the plane and walk over to a bus stop, where they sat on a curb. One responding officer said, "The one who had more burns sat there and was in a daze. I saw the wreckage, they both said 'We were in the plane.' I was a little taken back, you know." more ›

Early Tuesday morning, a Yemeni jet carrying 153 people (142 passengers, 11 crew members) crashed into the Indian Ocean (here's a map and timeline). Rescuers found a toddler; CNN reports, "The child is the only known survivor from the downed Yemenia Airways flight, which was carrying 153 people en route to the island nation of Comoros from Yemen's capital, Sanaa. The child was found in the waters and taken to a hospital." According to the NY Times, "The flight, IY 626, originated in Paris and stopped in Marseille before continuing to Yemen, where the passengers and crew changed planes." Yemeni authorities say the plane, which was an Airbus 310 (the fatal Air France flight was an Airbus 330), was headed to the Comoros airport in heavy winds. And BBC News says that EU has been concerned about Yemenia's safety and suggests that the a worldwide blacklist of unsafe airlines be created. more ›

According to Sky News, "Two passengers with names linked to Islamic terrorism were on board the Air France flight which crashed with the loss of 228 lives... While it is certain that there were computer malfunctions, terrorism has not been ruled out...There is a possibility the name similarities are simply a 'macabre coincidence', the source added, but the revelation is still being 'taken very seriously'." In the meantime, a French nuclear submarine has joined the search for the black boxes and the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha, usually a tourist destination, has been transformed into a staging ground for search-and-recovery operations. more ›

According to the AP, Air France told relatives of Flight 447 passengers that the jetliner broke apart either in mid-air or when it hit the ocean and that "they must abandon hope that anyone survived." A service was held at Notre Dame in Paris for relatives and Air France employees; French President Nicolas Sarkozy also attended. More debris was apparently found in the Atlantic Ocean yesterday, about 55 miles from the wreckage initially spotted. The NY Times reports the search for the black boxes, which transmit beeps for about 3.1 miles, may be difficult, "The ocean is more than four miles down in some parts of the area, and, while water is an excellent transmitter of sound, the sound waves are reflected at boundary layers where the water changes temperature." The Times also refers to former former Air Force meteorologist Timothy Vasquez's Weathergraphics info at the time of the crash. Vasquez said, "I don’t see anything unusual about these storms. Planes have flown through a lot worse; I’ve seen worse squall lines in Kansas and Missouri." On the other hand, some analysts suggest the weather could have been overwhelming. more ›

According to the Wall Street Journal's sources, "The captain of a commuter plane that crashed Feb. 12 near Buffalo, N.Y., had flunked numerous flight tests during his career and was never adequately taught how to respond to the emergency that led to the airplane's fatal descent." The 49 passengers and crew members aboard Continental Airlines Flight 3407, which took off from Newark and was headed to Buffalo, were killed, as was a man on the ground. The plane was a Bombardier Q400; the WSJ adds, "Capt. Marvin Renslow had never been properly trained by the company to respond to a warning system designed to prevent the plane from going into a stall...As the speed slowed to a dangerous level, setting off the stall-prevention system, he did the opposite of the proper procedure, which led to the crash, these people said." The NTSB will be holding three days of hearings about the crash in D.C., starting tomorrow; the NY Times reports that while the FAA requires "sterile" (meaning no irrelevant conversation) cockpits below 10,000 feet, "According to one investigator familiar with the contents of the cockpit voice recorder from the plane, the pilots’ 'heads weren’t in the game.'" more ›

A Northport resident was killed when his single-engine Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, a WWII fighter plane, crashed into the Atlantic yesterday. Newsday reports that Robert Baranaskas, 61 had been in the air for 16 minutes when his "olive green fighter spun out of the sky, crashing into the water 300 yards off the beach at Smith Point County Park." Baranaskas, who started flying planes in 1969 as a tribute to his father (a pilot who flew in WWII), had been practicing aerial maneuvers for an upcoming Memorial Day show; a witness told the Post, "People were watching because of the tricks and then it just went right down. It was hard to believe your own eyes." The NTSB will investigate; the FAA said the plane was properly registered. Baranaskas' son said, "There was not a day that my father didn't climb into the cockpit and realize that he was entrusted with a piece of our American military heritage so that he could tell our country's story." more ›

The Buffalo News reports, "Forensic anthropologists and aviation experts are walking grids in Clarence Center, where Continental Express Flight 3407 went down, trying to determine what caused the craft to take a horrific vertical dive." They will mark every spot "where human remains, pieces of the aircraft and personal effects are recovered." The flight's 49 passengers and crew were killed, as was the owner of the home where the plane crashed. According to the NTSB, recovery of the bodies may take several days; here is a partial list of victims. more ›

The National Transportation Safety Board retrieved the flight data recorders—aka the "black boxes"—from Continental Flight 3407, which crashed just outside of Buffalo in Clarence Center, NY last night. All 49 passengers and crew members were killed, as was one person on the ground, whose home was leveled by the commuter plane (an apparently new Bombardier Q400). Governor Paterson visited the crash site and said, "We're all connected, and we find out how connected we are on days like this." This was the first commercial American airline accident with fatalities since August 2006. more ›

According to Buffalo news stations, Continental Airlines Flight 3407 crashed in the town of Clarence, NY, which is about 20 miles east of Buffalo. The plane, which the FAA said had 49 passengers and crew (updated; there were actually 5 crew members) on it, crashed into an occupied home around 10:20 p.m. The Buffalo News says that 49 people—the plane's occupants plus a person on the ground—were killed. The flight had originated at Newark Airport and the Continental website said the flight was "operated by Colgan Air dba Continental Connection." Also according to the flight info, the flight was scheduled to land in Buffalo at 8:48 p.m. but was delayed with an expected landing time of 10:45 p.m. The plane is described as a Bombardier Q400. more ›

Yesterday's crash of a U.S. Airways Airbus A320 into the Hudson River is being hailed as a "Miracle on the Hudson"—TM Governor Paterson—considering that no one was killed (the most serious injury may be one passenger's broken legs). The federal Department of Transportation is in lower Manhattan, as is a National Transportation Safety Board team, to begin the investigation; they will try to recover the plane's black box. more ›

As everyone continues to marvel how all 155 passengers and crew members were rescued from the U.S. Airways Flight 1549 that landed in the Hudson River, they are ready to call Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger a hero. more ›

Reports are coming in that a plane has crashed in the Hudson River, between Piers 88 and 92 (West 48th-West 52nd Streets; U.S.S. Intrepid is at Pier 86). The newscasts are reporting that it's a US Airways (twin-engine) flight. more ›

Former Blink 182 drummer and "Meet the Barkers" star Travis Barker and Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein are both in critical condition after being in a plane crash in South Carolina last night. The crash has left four others dead, including Barker's assistant, Chris Baker. Barker and Goldstein were heading back to California from Columbia, SC after performing in a free outdoor concert when their private jet went up in flames on the runway late last night. TMZ is reporting that Barker has been burned from the waist down, but he is expected to survive the plane crash while DJ AM's face was severely burned and is being tended to right now. more ›

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the fatal crash of a single-engine plane carrying three people, including a Long Island man headed to Boston for cancer treatment. The flight was arranged by nonprofit Angel Flight, which gives free flights to people needing medical care; pilot Joseph Baker and Riverhead resident Robert and Donna Gregory were killed. It does not appear a distress call was made before the BeechcraftG35 Bonanza plane crashed in Easton, MA supermarket parking lot on Tuesday. The Gregorys' family are preparing to meet with counselors on how to tell their four-year-old twins their parents have died. more ›