Plane crashes into homes: six feared dead

Up to six people are feared dead after a small plane crashed in the US and engulfed two houses in flames. The multi-engine, propeller-driven plane struck the homes near Tweed New Haven Airport, in the town of East Haven, Connecticut, as it went in to land. National Transportation Safety Board investigator Robert Gretz said there were casualty reports of two or three people in the plane and two or three on the ground. He said authorities were at the scene looking for victims. Soon after the crash, officials had said at least three people were missing: the pilot and two children, aged one and 13, in one of the houses. Governor Dannel Malloy later said the plane may also have been carrying two passengers but officials were still trying to verify whether that was true. East Haven fire chief Douglas Jackson said: "We haven't recovered anybody at this point, and we presume there is going to be a very bad outcome." He added: "There was an intense fire. There's heavy damage to both structures that were affected on both sides, the motor vehicle and then the aircraft involved." A neighbour, David Esposito, said he heard a loud noise and then a thump. "No engine noise, nothing. A woman was screaming her kids were in there," he said. The retired teacher said he ran into the upstairs of the house, where the woman believed her children were, and started frantically searching but could not find them.