HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) A small plane crashed
between two houses in a residential neighborhood Thursday night, killing all four people
aboard and setting a garage on fire, authorities said.
Three people on the ground were injured, hospital
officials said.
``It was a big flash of light and a boom,'' said Carlos
Mortillo, who lives about two blocks from the crash site in northern New Jersey.
The twin-engine Beech Baron 58 left from Hanover County,
Va., and was on an approach to Teterboro Airport, across the Hudson River from New York
City, said Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The crew was
talking with air traffic controllers when it crashed about two miles from the airport.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Bob
Hancock said he didn't know if the pilot reported any trouble before the plane disappeared
from radar at 5:32 p.m. He said two men and two women were aboard the six-seat plane.
Weather at the time was fair, with mild winds and
visibility of five miles.
``I thought my house exploded,'' said Joanne Minervino,
who said she lived about two blocks from where the aircraft crashed. ``The whole house
shook. Everybody's house shook.''
Three of the four people on board died in the crash. The
fourth passenger, who was seriously burned, died about four hours later at Hackensack
University Medical Center, said spokesman Brian Thompson.
The hospital also treated an off-duty firefighter for
burns on his hands; a firefighter for smoke inhalation and a neighbor for a mild
concussion.
Councilman Justin Di Pisa said eyewitnesses told him that
the plane struck two trees and a detached garage, which caught fire.
``There's nothing left,'' he said. ``There's no fuselage.
There's no wing. You can't even tell it's a plane.''