By DONNA KNIPP
Herald & News

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS - The twin-engine aircraft came down in flames directly behind 21 Washington Place. Neighbors there agree that it could have landed on any of the houses along Central Avenue or Washington Place, two densely populated streets. Amazingly though, the Beechcraft Baron 58 crashed between two homes in a quiet residential neighborhood.

No one on the ground was reported hurt as a result of the crash, even though at least three people in the neighborhood suffered minor injuries when they tried to help the airplane's occupants, authorities say.

"I can't believe none of the houses were hit, and when I realized that it could have fallen on me, I started crying," said Tracy Nunno, who lives on the corner of Central and Woodside avenues.

"I go to church regularly, so I'll be saying an extra prayer this Sunday," she added.

Even residents of the house closest to the crash, at 21 Washington Place, were apparently unharmed. A neighbor, Bruce Wolf, said he saw the resident, Louise Bowman, leave uninjured immediately following the crash.

"I saw her run out of the house with her two children," Wolf said. "She went into the house of a neighbor on the other side of me. Later, I saw her circulating out on front on the lawn with a crowd of people."

Many residents were stunned by the realization that the crash was so close.

"Five minutes earlier, I had taken the dog out,'' said June Baker of 21 Central Ave. "It could have happened while I was out, but it didn't."

"Look at what time of year it is," Baker said. "It has to be a miracle."

Jennifer Watkins, of 63 Kipp Ave., lives about a block away. She said that she heard one big explosion and went immediately to the crash site.

"If I go one block, I can see into the back of their house. But all I could see through the back yard was that something was on fire," she said, noting that she couldn't tell by viewing the wreckage that it had been an airplane.

"It just looked like total devastation," she said.

Marge Jengo, whose back yard faces the crash site, said she was also thankful for the lack of injuries.

"My neighbor said when the fuselage blew, her back window blew out. This neighborhood is full of kids, and thank God nobody on the ground was hurt."

Sixteen-year-old Diane Giordano, who was about to go to her job at Corpus Christi Parish a block away, also expressed shock.

"It's so surprising that something like this would happen," she said. "This is such a small town."

A small town with a strong sense of community.

"Hasbrouck Heights is very close-knit," Watkins said.