1 dead in small plane crash in Aurora

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- One man is dead after the small plane he was flying fell from the sky as he was attempting to make a desperate detour to the Buffalo airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board told WIVB News 4 an investigator will be in Aurora on Friday to try and piece together what happened.

East Aurora police said the pilot contacted the Buffalo airport, reporting a mechanical issue. That happened around 11:15 a.m. The Federal Aviation Administration told News 4 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 was also on hand to assist with fuel and oil cleanup.

News 4 was told the pilot took off from Lansing, Michigan and was heading to White Plains, New York.

“(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.”

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. 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,” said William Major, chief of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport Fire Department.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.