Air Midwest commuter plane crashes

[dbaker]

Air Midwest commuter plane with 19 people aboard crashes into airport hangar in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Details to come.

[dbaker]

Plane with 19 aboard crashes in North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (CNN) -- An Air Midwest commuter plane with 19 people on board crashed on takeoff into a hangar Wednesday at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was Air Midwest Flight 5481 and was on its way to the Greenville-Spartanburg Jetport in South Carolina.

Picture of accident is available on above link

[dbaker]

Background information on Air Midwest:

Air Midwest operates as US Airways Express. In July 1991, Mesa acquired Air Midwest, Inc., a regional airline serving portions of the lower Midwest region of the United States under a codesharing agreement with US Airways from its hub in Kansas City, Missouri. Air Midwest currently operates a fleet of 36 Beechcraft 1900D aircraft, with 29 of them in service with the US Airways Express division. Headquartered in Wichita, KS., Air Midwest operates from hubs in Kansas City, Tampa, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. Air Midwest 1900s are also operating as America West Express in Phoenix and with our independent Mesa Airlines division in Albuquerque.

[dbaker]

Witness says no one survived crash of Air Midwest flight

A witness at the scene said Air Midest Flight 5481 crashed upside down and initial accounts indicated that none of the 21 people on board survived the crash, which spread debris and ignited a fire.

MSNBC reporting 21 people on board, not 19. Could be that CNN is not counting crew.

[dbaker]

FOX News says:

The plane was US Airways Express flight 5481 with 19 passengers and a crew of two, the television station reported.

19+2

[dbaker]

ITYT | Flight Status and Tracking | US Airways (US) 5481

Tracking software shows aircraft in CLT with a flight departure time of 08:41 with an airline scheduled departure time of 08:30, both in EST. Destination showed as GSP.

Flight status says "Contact Airline"

Update: Flight Tracking information has been pulled, and no information is available on the flight plan. Flight status info remains

[dbaker]

No Survivors in N.C. Commuter Plane Crash (Washington Post)

The plane, a Beech 1900 twin-engine turboprop, was taking off in clear, windy weather from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport when it hit the corner of a U.S. Airways hangar at full throttle just before 9 a.m., officials said.