‘Four people die’ after $3M private jet crashes into industrial laser factory in Connecticut – sending flames into the sky and sparking evacuation of surrounding area
- The business jet crashed into the factory Thursday at 10 am, authorities say
- The plane had four people onboard and was on its way to North Carolina
- The factory manufactures laser-cutting machines for Trumpf Medical Systems
- It was empty at the time, but no one aboard the plane survived, one reporter said
- Little else is known about other casualties or injuries
- The factory is less than a mile down the road from the small Robertson Airport, where the plane had taken off from shortly before
- Witnesses there said the plane struggled to get off the ground
A private jet crashed into a factory in Farmington, Connecticut and killed everyone onboard after reportedly struggling to take off from an airport less than a mile down the road Thursday morning.
The plane hit the ground and slid into German manufacturer Trumpf near the small Robertson Airport after witnesses there said it had trouble getting off the ground.
The four passengers aboard the Cessna Citation 560X were headed to Dare County Regional Airport in North Carolina.
No one was taken to the hospital, according to Farmington Police Lt. Tim McKenzie, who added that everyone at the factory had been accounted for.
The Thursday morning plane crash in Farmington, Connecticut sent flames into the sky
Police have advised people to avoid the area so emergency crews can being evacuation
Gov. Ned Lamont said ‘other insularly fires’ broke out inside the Trumpf facility
The Cessna Citation 560X averages $2.5 million and can carry up to nine passengers
The plane crashed into the building at 10 am. There is no official word on the condition of those aboard the aircraft, but one reported said none of them survived.
Witnesses say the plane struggled to take off from the airport earlier in the day, according to reporter Caitlin Francis of WSFB. It hit the ground before eventually crashing into the factory building.
Photos from the scene show smoke billowing up as a mangled plane appears to rest next to the charred side of the building.
Little else is known about other casualties or injuries as of Thursday at 2pm.
The plane crashed in the small town of Farmington about a mile down the road from an airport
Cessna Citation 560Xs go for as much as $2.5 million, according to LibertyJet.com. The popular aircraft has capacity for nine passengers.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont thanked first responders at the scene and added that the plane probably had mechanical issues and hit a power line after taking off from the nearby airport.
‘It’s a chemical facility inside so there’s a lot of other insularly fires going on. Our amazing first responders were here almost immediately, but there was not much to save in terms of the folks on the plane,’ Lamont told WTNH.
‘I’m feeling the tragedy. I’m feeling it’s a state that’s had a lot of loss recently.’
Earlier in the day, a state trooper was admitted to the hospital in critical condition after his police cruiser was swept away in flood waters at 4am in Woodbury, according to the Hartford Courant.
The governor said the National Transportation Safety Board was on its way.
A website for Trumpf describes the Farmington campus as a ‘state-of-the-art training facility, where more than 25 full-time instructors teach hands-on classes for programming, maintenance, and equipment operation in a 48,000 sq ft fabrication shop.’
‘The production of solid-state laser sources and flatbed laser-cutting machines is also carried out in the Farmington facility, to better serve the needs of customers in North America.’
A spokeswoman for the company directed all questions to the Farmington Fire Department.
A reporter for WTNH said the building was empty at the time, but no one aboard the plane survived.
Police released little information about the crash Thursday morning
‘Police sources tell me a jet engine took off from Robertson Airport in Plainville and lost power. Sources say no one was inside the building at the time but sadly no one on the plane survived,’ Samaia Hernandez tweeted at 10.55am.
A witness at a nearby company, Image First, told WTIC-TV that they heard a loud explosion and ran out to see the smoke.
Farmington is located in Hartford County, about 10 miles southwest of the state capital of Hartford. The 25,000-person town is about two hours from Boston and three hours from New York City.
‘We are responding to a plane crash into a building at 111 Hyde Rd. Media can stage at the intersection of New Britain Ave and Hyde Rd for now,’ the Farmington Police Department tweeted at 10.10am.
‘Any updates will be on our Twitter page. Please avoid the area so emergency crews can evacuate the immediate area.’
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