Tragic fatal plane crash on Interstate 287 claims five people

Plumes of thick black smoke surrounded by debris scattered over a half-mile wide area marked a tarrying accident scene along Interstate 287 Tuesday. A small aircraft with five people aboard crashed along the Interstate shortly after leaving the airport in Teterboro, New Jersey. The horrific fatal accident claimed of lives of all five people aboard the aircraft. Miraculously, no injuries were reported on the ground along the highly travelled Interstate that wraps itself around the northern and western edges of the New York City area.

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration says that the pilot requested clearance to ascend to a higher altitude before losing clear radio contact with the tower. The plane disappeared from radar and slammed down onto the highway in New Jersey. The plane crashed into the median, slid across Interstate 287 and burst into flames, sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

The aircraft was en route to Georgia with two New York City investment bankers. One of the men is also a pilot and the single-engine aircraft was registered to him. In addition to the two investment bankers, the wife and two children of the pilot were aboard the craft. All five people were killed in the plane crash.

Witnesses say the plane appeared to be spinning out of control before descending to the Interstate. One witness in Morristown says he could see smoke coming from both wings of the aircraft before it crashed. A second witness says the plane twirled and flipped before ascending straight down when one of the wings appeared to fall off the plane.

Authorities shut down both sides of the highway after the fatal crash. The majority of the plane reportedly came to a rest in the middle of the northbound lanes of Interstate 287.