Flight 3407

On Thursday night, a plane coming from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo Niagara International Airport went down in flames about 6 miles from Buffalo, New York. How did this happen? What went wrong? Were there any survivors? Wizard of Oz effect?

Steve Chealander of the National Transportation Safety Board stated, "Preliminary information recovered from the flight's cockpit voice and data recorders indicated that the plane underwent 'severe' pitching and rolling motions after the landing gear was lowered and wing flaps were set for the approach. The crew discussed significant ice buildup, ice on the windshield and leading edge of the wings.The crew attempted to raise the gear and [reset] flaps shortly before the recordings ended."

So you are telling me that there were icy conditions and planes were still flying? You couldn't pay me to get on a plane if there are icy conditions outside....especially where I am scheduled to land.

Sadly, there were no survivors from the crash. All 49 people aboard were killed upon impact. This number included 44 passengers, 4 crew members, and 1 off duty pilot. In addition to the people on board of the plane, there was a man by the name Doug Wielinski on the ground killed as well. My prayers go out to all of the families suffering their losses.

Now I am sure you are wondering why I put the "Wizard of Oz Effect?" up at the top. Well did you read, see, or hear where the plane crashed? RIGHT ON TOP OF A HOUSE! So instead of a house falling on top of the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz, a plane crashed into a house consisting of two people. Ok maybe it's a wierd comparison but whatever. A woman, her daughter, and her daughter's husband were in the home that the plane crashed into at 10:20 pm on that Thursday. The woman and her daughter escaped, but the daughter's husband (Doug Wielinski) was killed.

To get a more detailed report, I linked the news report in here and you can pretty much look it up anywhere in the news. I chose to write about it because I think it is really wierd how there have been a lot of airplane accidents lately. News report after news report about things going wrong with planes. I tell you what, air travel is beginning to not be my first choice for long distance travel.