Challenger Jet Crashes Amazingly Cause No Death
Posted 2-3-2005 at 10:42 PM
Passengers and crew members of a Bombardier Canadair Challenger corporate jet that skidded off a runway and roared across a six-lane highway managed to walk or crawl from the fiery wreckage, and authorities expressed amazement that no one was killed.
About 20 people were taken to hospitals, including two injured in their cars, after the crash Wednesday at Teterboro Airport, about 12 miles from midtown Manhattan.
"I think everybody at this point is extremely lucky and fortunate," acting Gov. Richard J. Codey said.
The jet left a trail of destruction just seconds after a crew member said, "Discontinue takeoff." The aircraft smashed into two cars on the highway and came to rest with its nose in the wall of a warehouse.
All 11 people on the plane were taken to the hospital; the most seriously hurt among them was one of the pilots, who had a broken leg. One of those injured in a car, James Dinnall, 66, remained in critical condition Thursday morning. Five firefighters and a man in the warehouse also were hurt.
At a hospital news conference Thursday, Rohan Foster said he was sitting at a stoplight when Dinnall, his passenger, yelled, "Look out!" Foster ducked instinctively as the jet hurtled past, shearing off the top of his Toyota.
"I thought the plane had gone over," Foster said. "Then I blacked out. When I woke up, I didn't know what had happened." Foster suffered a broken nose and some cuts and bruises, but was otherwise in good spirits.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The Bombardier Canadair Challenger CL-600 had been chartered by Kelso & Co., a New York-based investment firm, to take company employees and guests to Chicago.
Related News
A similar plane, a Canadair CL-601 Challenger, crashed in November in Colorado while trying to take off, killing a son of NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol and two others.
A Bombardier CRJ-series aircraft also crashed sometime last year killing all onboard as well as a pedestrian in China.
Passengers and crew members of a Bombardier Canadair Challenger corporate jet that skidded off a runway and roared across a six-lane highway managed to walk or crawl from the fiery wreckage, and authorities expressed amazement that no one was killed.
About 20 people were taken to hospitals, including two injured in their cars, after the crash Wednesday at Teterboro Airport, about 12 miles from midtown Manhattan.
"I think everybody at this point is extremely lucky and fortunate," acting Gov. Richard J. Codey said.
The jet left a trail of destruction just seconds after a crew member said, "Discontinue takeoff." The aircraft smashed into two cars on the highway and came to rest with its nose in the wall of a warehouse.
All 11 people on the plane were taken to the hospital; the most seriously hurt among them was one of the pilots, who had a broken leg. One of those injured in a car, James Dinnall, 66, remained in critical condition Thursday morning. Five firefighters and a man in the warehouse also were hurt.
At a hospital news conference Thursday, Rohan Foster said he was sitting at a stoplight when Dinnall, his passenger, yelled, "Look out!" Foster ducked instinctively as the jet hurtled past, shearing off the top of his Toyota.
"I thought the plane had gone over," Foster said. "Then I blacked out. When I woke up, I didn't know what had happened." Foster suffered a broken nose and some cuts and bruises, but was otherwise in good spirits.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The Bombardier Canadair Challenger CL-600 had been chartered by Kelso & Co., a New York-based investment firm, to take company employees and guests to Chicago.
Related News
A similar plane, a Canadair CL-601 Challenger, crashed in November in Colorado while trying to take off, killing a son of NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol and two others.
A Bombardier CRJ-series aircraft also crashed sometime last year killing all onboard as well as a pedestrian in China.
