A back yard in flames and a man screaming

Friday, December 10, 1999

By ELISE YOUNG,
PAULO LIMA,
and DON STANCAVISH
Staff Writers

In a Hasbrouck Heights back yard Thursday night, surrounded by burning oak trees and the flattened heap of an airplane leaking fuel, a man engulfed in flames lay screaming, "Help me! Help me! Somebody help me."

A half-mile away, a man felt his house shake.

Mere footsteps from where the six-seat Beech Baron 58 had crashed, a woman stood stunned in her kitchen as her chandelier swayed.

In a neighborhood that has grown used to the near-constant buzz of low-flying aircraft from nearby Teterboro Airport, a deafening roar and a fireball told homeowners their worst fears had come true.

"There's no fuselage," said Borough Councilman Justin DiPisa, who was led behind police lines to look at the wreckage. "There's no wings. The only thing you can see are two twisted props. It's all incinerated. You can't even see it's a plane."

The crash, at about 5:30 p.m. killed four people and injured at three others, authorities said. The aircraft was heading to Teterboro from Hanover County, Va., when it spiraled and crashed between two houses on Washington Place, setting fire to trees and a shed before erupting in flames. Hours later, wreckage lay on several adjacent properties.

Seconds after hearing the explosion, Robert Mienhardt ran out of his home on Woodside Avenue and followed a cloud of smoke to the scene.

"The plane didn't roll any distance," he said. "It just hit the ground like a pancake."

Charles Fasciano was pulling into his driveway on Ottawa Avenue when he spotted the aircraft dropping from the sky.

"I could see it rolling 360s over the houses," Fasciano said. "It was losing altitude rapidly. We're used to plane traffic around here, and it didn't sound normal."

He dialed 911 on his cellular telephone and sped toward the wreckage.

"I followed the flare," Fasciano said. "It was a ball of fire in the back yard."

Roy Pullen, 59, of Washington Place lives directly across from the crash site.

"I went outside and [saw] my neighbor's shed on fire," Pullen said. "I went over there to get her and her kids out because I knew her husband was at work."

He found Louise Bowman leaving her home at 21 Washington Place with her young son and daughter. The impact ignited Bowman's shed, where she keeps a lawnmower and other tools, Pullen said.

Within minutes, neighbors were rocked by a second powerful blast when the shed exploded, Pullen said.

The plane straddled the yard of 17 Washington Place, where Nancy Riordan was home with her toddler son and her sister's twins.

Pullen brought the Bowmans and the Riordans to his house while firefighters fought the blaze. Flames also spread to a large oak tree and slightly damaged a portion of Riordan's garage.

Marta Peters, who lives next to the Bowmans, was confused at first.

"I heard something and I said, 'It can't be thunder . . . not this time of year. It can't be.' "

At the same time, Janice Carrotto was racing across Washington Place to make sure Peters got out of her house safely.

"As we were coming down the stairs there was another explosion and that's when all the fireworks came up," Carrotto said. "I thought we had it. I thought the flames were going to catch on to us. I thought we were done."

For Joseph Aragon, a 17-year-old Lodi High School student who ran a half-block to the crash site, the scene was one of horror.

"I saw this guy laying there," Aragon said. "He was on fire. He was like a charcoal. He was covered from head to toe in flames."

Margaret Jengo of Central Avenue found the same hellish scene in the back yard.

"The oak trees were ablaze. The sparks were everywhere," Jengo said.

Then she spotted the man engulfed in flames.

"He was screaming, 'Help me! Help me! Somebody help me.' "

Jengo and others watched helplessly because they were afraid to approach the burning fuselage. It blew up moments later, she said.

The force was so great that 10 blocks away, Patrick Romano felt his house shake.

Cheralyn Albunia, who lives on Washington Place, stood in her kitchen, watching as her chandelier swayed.

"The house was rattling, shaking," she said. "I get out of the house. I go down the block. I see people walking, people running, flames everywhere, and big black smoke. My heart went up into my throat."

The fire roared above a cluster of Cape Cod houses.

"The flames had to be 50 feet [high] at least, easy," said Michael Sika, who lives on Woodside Avenue.

Some were thankful the disaster wasn't any worse.

"For years this was my big fear, because we live so close to Teterboro [Airport]," said June Baker, who lives on Central Avenue.

Borough Councilwoman Marlene Verrastro said the planes fly too close to the houses.

"We're lucky all the houses didn't go up in flames," Verrastro said.

Margaret Canestrino of Washington Place felt blessed.

"The hand of God was down on Hasbrouck Heights today," Canestrino said. "It could have been worse."