Plane crashes into building in Connecticut

Kaitlyn Naples and Matthew Campbell
WSFB
Thu, 02 Sep 2021 18:19 UTC

© Twitter

The Cessna Citation 560X took off from Robertson Field Airport around 10 a.m. on September 2, 2021.

Four people on a plane that crashed into the Trumpf Inc. building in Farmington on Thursday morning have died.

Farmington police said the crash happened just before 10 a.m.

The plane, which took off from Robertson Airport in Plainville, had mechanical failure during take-off, and eventually crashed on the ground and ended up hitting the Trumpf Inc. building on Hyde Road.

4 dead, 2 injured in plane crash

On Friday, police remained at the scene, securing it for when National Transportation Safety Board officials arrive to investigate.

Farmington police gave an update on a plane crash that happened Thursday morning, leaving four people dead.
Police said evacuations were underway just after the crash.

During a news conference, police said all Trumpf employees were accounted for. The company said two were injured. There were more than 100 people inside the building at the time.

"It is miraculous, I mean to say that we can confirm no one was injured inside is some silver lining to this tragedy," said Farmington Police Lt. Tim McKenzie.

The Federal Aviation Administration said two pilots and two passengers were on the plane at the time. Farmington police said Thursday afternoon that all four had died. Their names have not yet been released.

The plane was heading to Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo, N.C.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was a Cessna Citation 560X.

© WSFB

Emergency crews working to put out a fire sparked by a plane crash at the Trumpf building in Farmington September 2, 2021.

As dozens of workers got out of the building, others in the highly industrial area watched as the jet fuel set an entire corner of the Trumpf facility on fire.

Eyewitnesses said they can't shake the sound of the explosion.

"We were at work and heard a big explosion and we all went outside and just saw smoke billowing out of here," said Chris Cubeta.

Garrison Leykam got as close as possible to today's fatal plane crash in Farmington while still living to talk about it.

"The top of that pole was how close we were to the plane. In fact, I could see people in the plane," said Leykam.

Leykam said he was walking his dog near the Trumpf building on Hyde Road this morning. He said he knew immediately that something was wrong. "Instead of it being a takeoff angle like this, the rear end was more like this, more predominately down compared to the nose of the aircraft."

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The plane carrying the four people crashed into a building owned by a German manufacturing company called Trumpf Medical Systems.

He said the plane then hit a pole. "It started to really descend out of control. It was not a consistent whirring or noise. It was a little bit more erratic."

It would then hit the ground then smash into the corner of the Trumpf building where more than 100 people were
4 people killed in Farmington plane crash, two Trumpf employees injured

Garrison said it all happened in 15 seconds. "Seeing the explosion, seeing the sparks, hearing it. And man, when it did crash, the smoke came back toward us in a fairly quick time. It was that jet fuel, burning, kind of choking sensation."

"There were people in it, human beings. There were lives and part of me wanted to reach out and said, 'I got ya, we got this.' It's that sense of helplessness," he continued.

Joe Gilberti another eyewitness said, "If that plane entered like a 9-11, any one of these buildings, everyone, hundreds of people would have been incinerated, so in a way, it's pretty damn fortunate."

Farmington police said this crash could have been much worse.

"Only a few feet from this building, if the plane had struck the building back there, the explosion would have been enormous and have had a lot more lives lost," McKenzie said.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the crash.

Eversource said there were power outages in the area as well as some damage.

Comment: The names of the deceased have been released:

On Friday, Farmington police identified the two pilots as 55-year-old William O'Leary of Bristol and 57-year-old Mark Morrow of Danbury. The two passengers were identified as 33-year-old Courtney Haviland of Boston, Massachusetts and her husband, 32-year-old William Shrauner.

Trumpf Inc. posted to social media that all employees who were inside the affected building have been accounted for with two injuries reported.

One of two people injured inside the Trumpf headquarters was badly burned when the plane came down on the building. He is now in the burn unit in Bridgeport after first being treated at Hartford Hospital.

News 8 spoke to an expert who said two pilots are required to fly this kind of aircraft. He says the Cessna Citation 560X business jet is considered to be a very comfortable and capable aircraft.

"First thought that comes to mind is, it was an aircraft malfunction of some sort," said Mike Teiger, an active private pilot. "It's an executive jet, the runway is 3,600 feet which is long enough for an aircraft to take off. Weather was not a factor. It was a very clear day, there was no difficulty as far as runway conditions," Teiger said.

News 8 also spoke to Eric Buhrendorf, the owner of an IT services company called EVERNET out of Hartford and a private pilot based at Robertson Airport for the last few years.

"This is just a sad case of bad luck," Buhrendorf said. "It's just so heartbreaking that there's a loss in this capacity."

Brook Haven Properties LLC in Camden, Delaware, owned the jet. It is not currently known whether this particular aircraft has had mechanical issues in the past.

It was a narrow shave for the employees of Trumpf Medical Systems. Symbolic?