Hope there's no reason for me to post this...

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/004/world/Small_jet_headed_for_Maine_cra:.shtml

Small jet headed for Maine crashes on takeoff at English airport, killing five Americans

By Associated Press, 1/4/2002 12:28

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) A private jet bound for the United States crashed on takeoff Friday at Birmingham International airport in central England, killing five Americans on board, airport and emergency officials said.

An airport spokesman said the twin-engined Canadair Challenger executive jet crashed just after noon. He said the plane, carrying two passengers and three crew, was believed to be a private or corporate jet en route to Bangor, Maine.

Airport managing director Brian Summers told a news conference that the passengers and crew on the jet were U.S. citizens. The passengers had been on business in the area, he added.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in London confirmed that all five people killed were U.S. citizens. Their names and hometowns were not given.

''It was a distressing scene,'' said Steve Evans, manager of West Midlands Ambulance Service.

''The tail of the plane was some yards away from the main fuselage. Four people were found outside the aircraft on the grass and one person was found inside,'' he added.

Birmingham airport was closed following the incident.

Rebecca Hupp, director of the Bangor International Airport, said that a Challenger from Birmingham had been scheduled to touch down in Maine at 1:30 p.m. EST.

Bangor is a popular refueling hub for European flights. It was unclear if the flight was the same one that crashed, Hupp said.

The Challenger was scheduled for refueling and catering, and it was possible that the plane would clear customs in Bangor, as well. Hupp said airport officials did not know the final destination of the plane.

Witnesses described how a huge pall of smoke billowed above the aircraft after the crash.

''My husband and I went out to the front of the house, where we can see over the runway, and there was a thick black plume of smoke rising to about 100 feet,'' Joan Hood told the British Broadcasting Corp.

The Department of Transport said that members of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch were on their way to the crash scene.

-- Anonymous, January 04, 2002

Answers

no reason? It's news. Is that reason enough?

Hope I don't know anyone who was on board, or unlucky enough to be on the ground there.

-- Anonymous, January 04, 2002