Community Corner

Four Killed When Plane Crashes Into East Haven Home

Mother escapes from house but her two children perished; pilot and passenger from Seattle, Washington, according to media reports.

By Patch Editors Jenn McCulloch, Julie Weisberg, Fay Abrahamsson, Elissa Bass and Paul Petrone

A small plane crashed into a house on Charter Oak Avenue in East Haven at around 11:25 Friday morning, killing two children in the home at the time, according to East Haven's mayor.

East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo said at a press conference Friday afternoon that a mother was home with her 13-year-old and 1-year-old when the plane hit her home at 68 Charter Oak Ave. The mother was able to get out of the house on her own, according to Maturo. 

The Daily Astorian newspaper in Oregon has identified the pilot of the plane as Bill Henningsgaard, a resident of the Seattle area. The newspaper said his son was onboard the aircraft with him. The information was attributed to Astoria Mayor Willis Van Dusen, who was with the Henningsgaard family Friday as news spread.

The news site komonews.com identified the pilot as a former Microsoft executive: "Bill Henningsgaard served as vice president of the Western United States and South Pacific region at Microsoft. He joined the Redmond-based software giant in 1988 and served for 14 years. Prior to Microsoft, he worked for Apple Computer in Cupertino, Calif., and TOM Software in Burien. He currently had been serving as a director of Social Venture Partners." 

Watch VIDEO of the crash scene on Patch.

The plane took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and was set to land in Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport, according to airport manager Lori Hoffman-Soares. The plane missed its approach at Tweed but was in communication with the control tower until the crash, she said.

The pilot showed no sense of panic, according to Hoffman-Soares. Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport has since been closed, she said. The National Transportation Safety Board has taken over at the scene. 

The home was damaged by fire as well. Fire departments from East Haven, New Haven, Hamden, Branford and North Branford were on scene. 

Gov. Dannel Malloy toured the site with Maturo, according to the New Haven Register. 

The New Haven Register reports that the father was bringing his 17-year-old son Maxwell on a tour of colleges in the Northeast.

In 2009, Pilot Bill Henningsgaard and his mother were flying to Seattle when they made a crash landing into the Columbia River, where Columbia River Bar Pilots rescued the pair, the newspaper reports.


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