# Plane crash in Buffalo, New York. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660 "2009-02-13T06:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/1 "2009-02-13T06:40:07Z")
[http://www.lockportjournal.com/local/local\_story\_044002917.html](http://www.lockportjournal.com/local/local_story_044002917.html) Doesn’t look good. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/2 "2009-02-13T06:51:03Z")
No survivors. Crashed about five miles east of my parents’ house. The crash site is along the westbound approach to BUF; even eastbound planes will loop around and fly over Clarence, buzzing the the town’s high-dollar subdivisions and malls before landing. Buffalo is a big small city. Odds are I’ve got one or two degrees of separation from someone on that plane. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/3 "2009-02-13T06:58:08Z")
CNN interviewed a guy who was heading to the airport to pick up his sister. She was on the flight. The guy was shocked yet very composed…and it was one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen. He spoke about calling his mother in Florida to give her the grim news, and he said he’d heard a sound out of her that he’d never heard before in his life. Man, I don’t think a poet could describe that kind of grief in such a vivid way… ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/4 "2009-02-13T07:25:25Z")
Big small city? Shit, it’s where I was born! ALL of my family lives in Buffalo. ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/5 "2009-02-13T07:46:03Z")
Awful stuff. I was watching the local Buffalo news when the first reports came in. Everything there is a real mess. My sympathies to all involved. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/6 "2009-02-13T08:03:12Z")
watching CNN - speculation is that rime ice may have formed on the wings. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/7 "2009-02-13T11:42:44Z")
Further discussion [here at PPRuNe.](http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/362057-commuter-crash-buffalo.html) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/8 "2009-02-13T12:12:42Z")
Uncomfortably close to my sister’s house, is all I’m saying - they should be safe (actually, sis is in Detroit with mom and dad, but I’m sure she’ll be worried about her husband) ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/9 "2009-02-13T12:59:02Z")
Our VP lives in Clarence Center, about a mile from the crash site, so probably close enough to see it go down. My kids are flying out of the Buffalo airport tomorrow ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/10 "2009-02-13T13:22:33Z")
I’m about 10 miles from there, I was wondering why a couple of sherriff’s cars went flying by my house lights and sirens on, but no ambulance or other town fire or rescue vehicles for a local call. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/11 "2009-02-13T14:20:34Z")
One of the passengers was a 9/11 widow. One of Sully’s passengers was the brother of a firemen killed in 9/11. What the fuck is going on here? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/12 "2009-02-13T14:31:43Z")
Um… it’s NY state and there were a lot of people who worked in the WTC and Pentagon and they all had a bunch of relatives? I think you’re reading more into than exists. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/13 "2009-02-13T14:34:54Z")
Extremely strange coincidence, don’t you think. Two 9/11 relatives involved in plane crashes in one month? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/14 "2009-02-13T15:10:24Z")
Watching CNN. A witness was surprised at how little wreckage there was. He said a friend in the FAA said that when planes crash they virtually disintegrate. (That this is often true has been pointed out by me and others here, particularly in CT threads.) Since there was, to a witness not familiar with aircraft, an unexpectedly small (to him) amount of wreckage, he said, ‘I thought some meathead crashed his Cessna.’ :dubious: ‘Meathead’? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/15 "2009-02-13T15:21:21Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > One of the passengers was a 9/11 widow. One of Sully’s passengers was the brother of a firemen killed in 9/11. > > What the fuck is going on here? Not really tracking what you’re saying here. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/16 "2009-02-13T16:17:24Z")
Wow. I’ve taken that flight - puddle-jumper (okay, commuter plane, but still) from Newark to Buffalo at least a few times. It always made me nervous on approach; you’d swear looking out the window that you were no more than 20 feet over every house west of Buffalo. From what I understand, the plane didn’t go for any sort of controlled crash or anything, but rather suddenly lost power or lift or something and nose-dived. I would imagine if it came down rolling through the neighborhood, there might have been even further loss of life. Very disconcerting either way. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/17 "2009-02-13T16:21:52Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Extremely strange coincidence, don’t you think. Two 9/11 relatives involved in plane crashes in one month? I don’t think so. There are a LOT of relatives of survivors of the 9/11 victims. A majority of them live in the NY area. How many of them fly in any particular month? What are the odds of two plane crashes in NY _wouldn’t_ have at least on such person on board..? I’d be more inclined to raise an eyebrow if there _hadn’t_ been any. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/18 "2009-02-13T16:23:53Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Extremely strange coincidence, don’t you think. Two 9/11 relatives involved in plane crashes in one month? No, not at all. There were, what, about 2500-3000 people killed at the WTC? If they each had 10 relatives (a very conservative number) among spouses, children, grandchildren, siblings, parents, etc. then that’s 25,000-30,000 people who are relatives, most of whom will live in or near New York State… I’m not math whiz enough to figure the odds, but it doesn’t seem at all peculiar to me that there would be one or two on most flight to or from points in New York. If each had 20 relatives that would be a pool of 50,000-60,000 people from which to choose. No, I see nothing but normal odds and random chance here. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/19 "2009-02-13T16:24:31Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > No survivors. Crashed about five miles east of my parents’ house. The crash site is along the westbound approach to BUF; even eastbound planes will loop around and fly over Clarence, buzzing the the town’s high-dollar subdivisions and malls before landing. > > Buffalo is a big small city. Odds are I’ve got one or two degrees of separation from someone on that plane. When I turned on the telly this morning at about 5.30am our time the first thing/person I thought about when I saw there was a crash in Buffalo was you. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660/20 "2009-02-13T16:56:09Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > No, not at all. There were, what, about 2500-3000 people killed at the WTC? If they each had 10 relatives (a very conservative number) among spouses, children, grandchildren, siblings, parents, etc. then that’s 25,000-30,000 people who are relatives, most of whom will live in or near New York State… I’m not math whiz enough to figure the odds, but it doesn’t seem at all peculiar to me that there would be one or two on most flight to or from points in New York. If each had 20 relatives that would be a pool of 50,000-60,000 people from which to choose. No, I see nothing but normal odds and random chance here. Precisely. There were approx 150 passengers on the US Airways flight that crashed into the Hudson and they’re quoting this flight as carrying 50. That means a total of 200 passengers, most of which would have a connection to NYC given that one flight came from La Guardia and the other came from Newark. That’s especially true of the Continental flight, since it’s a commuter flight within the state and would have very few out-of-towners aboard. I’d say that the statistical probability of finding two direct relatives of a 9-11 victim within any random sample of 200 New Yorkers is quite good. Obviously, it’s a very sad coincidence, but nothing more than that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-buffalo-new-york/485660.md?page=2)