Plane Carrying Two Crashes Off Cape Cod
Here is the latest news on the crash...
51 minutes ago
By MATT PITTA, Associated Press Writer
YARMOUTH, Mass. - A commuter plane carrying only two pilots crashed Tuesday in Hyannis Harbor off Cape Cod, an airline spokeswoman said. The fate of the pilots was not immediately known.
The Colgan Air Beechcraft 1900 went down three miles short of the runway at Hyannis Airport, airline spokeswoman Mary Finnegan said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot declared an emergency shortly after takeoff and was returning to land at Hyannis when the crash occurred. The plane was originally on its way from Hyannis to Albany, N.Y., Finnegan said.
A Coast Guard spokesman initially said that the plane may have been carrying as many as 21 people, but Finnegan said that was not accurate. It is a twin-engine plane that seats 19 passengers, officials said.
Tim Bischoff, a businessman who said he witnessed the crash, told WHDH-TV, Channel 7 that he saw the plane with its landing gear down. He said the plane made a couple of "nose up and nose down movements" before crashing.
Rescue crews and divers were at the scene, and a section of what appeared to be the plane's tail could be seen just below the water.
Colgan Air is a carrier for US Airways Express, serving Cape Cod. The plane was in the middle of a "repositioning" flight, not a scheduled flight, when it went down, Finnegan said.
"Our thoughts and prayers are that our crew members are OK," Finnegan said.
Colgan Air, based in Manassas, Va., provides service to 31 cities and 11 states on the East Coast. It has hubs in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh and Washington.
WD.