Flight 3407

A few months ago, we introduced our readers to Emily Tworek Helenbrook, a 14-year-old vocalist from Alexander, who was then being featured as a soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Emily's mother, Marisa, has sent us some updates on Emily that we wanted to share.

Emily was invited to sing for three separate services at the Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church in honor of the victims of the crash of Flight 3407 in Clarence Center a couple weeks ago. She was then requested by Erie County officials to open the memorial service last Monday morning. "She sand the inspirational song called 'You'll Never Walk Alone,'" her mother wrote. "Over 2,000 people attended the service."

From Marisa Helenbrook:

"On February 8, Emily entered a competition called Search For a Star, sponsered by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Over 100 talented young musicians attended. Emily was chosen as one of the winners and she will be performing with the RPO on May 31, 2009 at the Eastman Theatre (at) 2:00PM.

"On March 27, Emily will be performing at the University of Rochester at 7:00 and March 29 at the Montante Center with the ARS Nova Musicians at 7:00. (This) week, Emily will travel to Oberlin University in Cleveland, Ohio for the first round in the national competition called The Classical Singers Vocal Contest."

For those who missed it, here is the video of Emily from our original post:

State police have made several arrests after setting up a permiter patrol at the site of the crash of Continental Flight 3407 in Clarence Center.

On Friday morning, police charged Thomas Woodman, 19, of Clarence, with trespassing. Troopers located Woodman allegedly hiding behind a residence on Long Road, where he was attempting to video tape the crash site.

That same day, in the afternoon, Paul R. Brenton, 63, of Clarence, was charged with disorderly conduct. Brenton is accused of wandering into the restricted area while he was allegedly intoxicated. He had to be restrained, according to police, to be kept from entering the crash site.

State police also reported that a third individual was charged with a DWI at a roadblock set up nearby.

Buffalo News reporters have been updating the site all day with updates on the crash of Continental Flight 3407 that plummeted onto a home in Clarence. Names of passengers have been leaking out throughout the day, and reporters have got up a video of eyewitness accounts.

Names of the dead began trickling out at midday, giving a window onto the group of passengers aboard the flight from Newark to Buffalo that crashed at about 10:15 p.m.

The names of victims emerging from families and friends included Alison DeForges, a noted historian and human rights activist who documented the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Also killed in the crash was Susan Wehle, cantor at Temple Beth Am in Amherst, and Zhaofang Guo, the husband of Dr. Ping Wang at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

In addition, the black boxes from the flight have been recovered, and the investigation into the cause of the crash has begun in earnest.

Identities of the victims of the crash of Continental Flight 3407 are not yet being released, but many are believed to be inhabitants of Western New York.

We put together this roundup of news coverage.

From the Buffalo News:

Forty-nine people died when a Continental Connection airplane crashed into a house in Clarence Center shortly after 10:15 p.m. Thursday, setting off a huge fire that could be seen miles away.

The dead included 44 passengers, four crew members and a person on the ground.

A nurse at Erie County Medical Center said the hospital's second shift had been told to stay late to treat survivors but was sent home before midnight.

"There were no souls to bring in and treat," she said.

You can also view video coverage of the press conference and footage taken from the scene at the Buffalo News video page. The site also hosts the final radio transmission received from Continental Flight 3407 prior to the crash.

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Comments from the scene, featured in today's Democrat & Chronicle:

“The whole sky was lit up orange,” Bob Dworak, who lives less than a mile from the crash site, told The Associated Press. He said that residents of the neighborhood, about 10 miles from the Buffalo airport, were used to planes rumbling overhead, but he took note last night when one sounded louder than usual and made some odd noises.

“We were thinking it was just another plane,” he said. “It kind of made some sputtering noises but they lower the landing gear over our house a lot so the noise from the planes a lot of time will change kind of drastically as they go over.”

Kathy Dworak said she and her husband stepped outside and saw a huge ball of fire.

“We could see nothing that told us it was a plane,” she said. “It was just a massive ball of flame.”

A follow-up piece in the Buffalo News looks into icing as a potential cause of the crash.

Just minutes after Continental Connection Flight 3407 crashed, air traffic controllers began quizzing other pilots about the icy conditions over Buffalo.

A recording of those conversations Thursday night suggests ice may be one of the suspected causes of the nation's deadliest air crash in more than two years.

"Delta 1998, you getting any icing where you're at?" a Buffalo air traffic controller asked just minutes after Continental's 74-seat aircraft went down, killing 49 people.

"We picked it up on the way down," the pilot reponds. "I don't think it's building any more here but about 6,500 (feet) down to 3,500 (feet) maybe."

We received the following statement from Rep. Chris Lee, a resident of Clarence.

Congressman Chris Lee, who represents and is a resident of Clarence, will be on the ground this morning with federal, local and state officials. He has issued the following brief statement:

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic accident that occurred last night in Clarence. Our focus right now is supporting the first responders on the ground, who have done heroic work in ensuring the health and safety of people in the area. My website is continually providing residents and concerned citizens with updated information, as well as the opportunity to leave messages for the families of the victims, first responders, and the members of the community.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims' families at this difficult hour.”

Dan Fischer has audio of Lee talking about the location of the crash up on the WBTA Web site.

Update (9:45 a.m.): A report from CNN explains that this particular passenger jet is one of the safest around.

The turboprop plane that crashed in New York state, killing all 49 people on board and one on the ground, was one of the safest and most sophisticated aircraft of its type, according to an aviation industry expert.

The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 was less than one year old and had flown for only about 1,500 hours, said Kieran Daly, of the online aviation news service Air Transport Intelligence.

Update (10:39 a.m.): Statement from state Senator Mike Ranzenhofer:

"On behalf of the citizens of the 61st District and the Town of Clarence, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families affected by the tragedy of Flight 3407.  Our thoughts and prayers, as well as those of the entire State of New York, are with you at this most difficult time.

"Our sincere thanks and gratitude go to our communities' first responders. It is times like these where our Western New York community comes together to help and console one another."