Buffalo Plane Crash!

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 12:26am

There has been a terrible and tragic plane crash in Buffalo!

Dozens are likely dead!

[Anakela]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 12:27am

News conference is going on right now- multiple fatalities, no confirmation of numbers, the plane and house are still burning.

Continental flight from Newark to Buffalo.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 12:33am

Thoughts and prayers to the families involved.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 12:44am

No survivors! I just saw a sad brother on the news speaking of his sister who was coming home from law school. There will be many sad stories in the morning!

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 12:51am

NY Times

[kover22]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 1:26am

49 people are dead.....this is so sad.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 1:28am

Tragic news. Very sorry to hear it.

[singtopher]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 1:47am

Thoughts and Prayers to the families.

We sure have had our fair share of plane crashes lately. There was one in Denver just before Christmas (A continental jet, oddly enough), The US air, and now this.

[Radiana]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 4:04am

It's been reported that weather conditions do not seem to be the cause. Some are thinking that it might have been an explosion on the plane.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 7:20am

This is about 7 miles from my house. And less than a mile from my sister in law's house. I'm pretty shaken this morning and pretty much can't stop crying.

[HellsBells2]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 9:58am

K, I thought that was the connecting flight I took to your place in August - I was freaked out. Just awful!!!!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 10:09am

"Among the 44 passengers killed was a woman whose husband died in the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."

Ineffably sad.

[madbrian]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 10:13am

"Among the 44 passengers killed was a woman whose husband died in the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."

That woman was Beverly Eckert, whose husband was on the 105th floor of the WTC on 9/11. Ms. Eckert had become an activist, and had met President Obama last week.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 10:34am

Her December 2003 op-ed from USA Today:

Published on Friday, December 19, 2003 by the USA Today
My Silence Cannot Be Bought
by Beverly Eckert


I've chosen to go to court rather than accept a payoff from the 9/11 victims compensation fund. Instead, I want to know what went so wrong with our intelligence and security systems that a band of religious fanatics was able to turn four U.S passenger jets into an enemy force, attack our cities and kill 3,000 civilians with terrifying ease. I want to know why two 110-story skyscrapers collapsed in less than two hours and why escape and rescue options were so limited.

I am suing because unlike other investigative avenues, including congressional hearings and the 9/11 commission, my lawsuit requires all testimony be given under oath and fully uses powers to compel evidence.

The victims fund was not created in a spirit of compassion. Rather, it was a tacit acknowledgement by Congress that it tampered with our civil justice system in an unprecedented way. Lawmakers capped the liability of the airlines at the behest of lobbyists who descended on Washington while the Sept. 11 fires still smoldered.

And this liability cap protects not just the airlines, but also World Trade Center builders, safety engineers and other defendants.

The caps on liability have consequences for those who want to sue to shed light on the mistakes of 9/11. It means the playing field is tilted steeply in favor of those who need to be held accountable. With the financial consequences other than insurance proceeds removed, there is no incentive for those whose negligence contributed to the death toll to acknowledge their failings or implement reforms. They can afford to deny culpability and play a waiting game.

By suing, I've forfeited the "$1.8 million average award" for a death claim I could have collected under the fund. Nor do I have any illusions about winning money in my suit. What I do know is I owe it to my husband, whose death I believe could have been avoided, to see that all of those responsible are held accountable. If we don't get answers to what went wrong, there will be a next time. And instead of 3,000 dead, it will be 10,000. What will Congress do then?

So I say to Congress, big business and everyone who conspired to divert attention from government and private-sector failures: My husband's life was priceless, and I will not let his death be meaningless. My silence cannot be bought.

Beverly Eckert, whose husband died at the World Trade Center, is the founder of Voices of September 11th, a victims advocacy group.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 10:35am

FAREWELL, BEVERLY

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 10:53am

I"m just now reading about this.

Tragic.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 11:31am

She was coming here to present a scholarship at Canisius High School in her husband's name. Terrible.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 12:08pm

Very sad and tragic time for all of the families of those affected.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 12:39pm

My friend's husband is a police officer and he is escorting the families of the victims that are flying in to the crash site today. Boy I would not relish that job.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 1:07pm

Sorry. I just had to get rid of the exclamation mark - the story is is sensational enough without it.

StockardFan, why can't you stop crying? Was your sister in law injured? Did you witness it? Or was it your proximity that shook you up? The news made a point of saying that the damage on the ground was limited to the one house.

Or are you just very sensitive? I'm genuinely curious, no offense intended. It is very sad.
Updated On: 2/13/09 at 01:07 PM

[sabrelady]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 1:15pm

A large fire like that will mean +++ smoke & other fumes + that special odour that permiates everything. You know, the smell of gas and burning flesh. 7 miles is enough for the winds to carry. If you think about it too long ypu also realize the arbitrariness of the situation. 7miles, 1 mile there but for the grace of G*d go I.
Steady on Stockardfan- remember the line in GARP (paraphrasing) "The odds on something like this happening again are astronomical- We'll be safe here"

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 2:02pm

I was ten blocks away when Airbus 587 crashed years ago, sabrelady. Somewhere near 260 people died, several on the ground. I know those sights and smells up close and personal.

But it did not happen to me, and I didn't cry all day. Rather the opposite, in fact. While saddened and sobered by the tragedy, it made me think how lucky I was to be alive. I was close enough to be able to help, and perhaps that made the difference in my reaction.

Understand this is no judgement on SF. Sensitivity is no failing. I was more concerned that perhaps her sister-in-law was injured, or that perhaps she knew the people in the house that was struck.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 2:07pm

don't worry, ghost. less than an hour later she was able to suck it up and make it to her spinning class.

but you're so sweet to show concern like that.

Updated On: 2/13/09 at 02:07 PM

[StockardFan]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 2:16pm

Whatever papa.

No I'm not crying all day, but was when I was watching the news coverage this morning. And no my sister in law wasn't injured ghost, but thank you for asking.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 2/13/09 at 2:16pm

Yeah, papa, I'm a real mensch like that.