1 dead in small plane crash in Aurora

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — One man was killed after a small plane crashed into a residential area in the Town of Aurora on Thursday morning.

East Aurora police said the pilot contacted the Buffalo airport around 11:15 a.m. reporting a mechanical issue and diverted to the airport. The single-engine plane went down 15 minutes later.  No one else was injured, and the pilot has yet to be identified.

Police said the plane burst into flames after crashing between two homes. The closest house was 100-200 feet away. Police said the plane crashed close to a house owned by Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation also responded to assist with fuel and oil cleanup.

The pilot took off from Lansing, Mich. and was heading to White Plains, N.Y.

“(I was) in my kitchen looking down the street and I see a big cloud of black smoke,” said Brittney Lijewski, who lives near the crash site. “I decided to drive down there to check it out and I saw a neighbor run over to the one house because it was near his property.”

The National Transportation Safety Board said an investigator will be in Aurora on Friday to begin looking into the crash.

East Aurora police chief Patrick Welch said the debris field left behind was about 100 by 100 feet. Fire officials said they got the fire under control within 20 minutes of arriving.

“Based on its location, it brought a little bit of a challenge to them,” said William Major, the chief of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport Fire Department. “They were able to use the agents that they had and because of the size of the aircraft, there was a limited amount of fuel on the aircraft vs. a commercial aircraft.”

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

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Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

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