Inverted flight: children killed in bizarre plane crash in Connecticut

2013-09-28 2

Originally published on August 11, 2013

Four people, including a 1-year-old child, were killed when a turboprop plane crashed in New Haven County, Connecticut on Friday morning.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, William Henningsgaard, 54, was piloting a Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B that was registered under his name. He had a certificate allowing him to fly the multi-engine plane. His son, Maxwell Henningsgaard, 17, was also on board. Both were from Medina, Washington.

Henningsgaard took off from New Jersey's Teterboro Airport on Friday morning and crashed while approaching Tweed New Haven Airport in southern Connecticut airport around 11:25 a.m., according to the FAA. Investigators say the Henningsgaard confirmed with the control tower that he could see the runway, and didn't indicate any problems before transmissions were suddenly cut off.

Investigators believe the aircraft came in inverted with its nose down at a 60- to 70-degree angle before crashed into the side of a home in East Haven about a half-mile from the airport. Before impact, the plane was at an allowable altitude level for landing in that area.

It was raining at the time, but officials have not said whether that was a factor that contributed to the crash.

The impact sent the fuselage into one of the homes. The right wing of the airplane was lodged in the wreckage of one house, while the the left wing was stuck in another house. A fire that broke out after the collision engulfed both houses, initially hampering rescue efforts by firefighters.

Both Henningsgaard and his son were killed. Sade Brantley, 13, and her sister Madisyn Mitchell, 1, who were in one of the houses with the mother at the time were also killed. Their mother managed to escape unharmed.

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