Plane crashes into building in Connecticut

FARMINGTON, Conn. (NewsNation Now) — All four people aboard a small jet were killed Thursday morning when it crashed shortly after taking off from a small airport in Connecticut, officials said.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported that a Cessna Citation 560X business jet was taking off from Robertson Airport in Plainville when it crashed into the Trumpf building, a high-tech manufacturing company in Farmington, around 10 a.m. ET.

“It appears there was some type of mechanical failure during the takeoff sequence that resulted in the crash behind us,” he said.

Two pilots and two passengers aboard the plane were killed, McKenzie said. Their names were not immediately released.

The plane was headed to Dare County Regional Airport in North Carolina. Farmington police said witnesses reported the plane had trouble shortly after takeoff. The plane then hit the ground and slid into the building.

Photos taken by NewsNation affiliate WTNH showed a plume of black smoke and firefighters pouring water onto the charred side of the building, which sits several hundred feet from the small Robertson Airport in Plainville, Connecticut.

McKenzie said an intense fire burned for over 20 minutes.

The crash set off chemical fires inside the Trumpf building, Gov. Ned Lamont said. Everybody who was inside the Trumpf building has been accounted for and there were no serious injuries, McKenzie said.

Lamont said authorities were in the process of identifying those who died on the plane. He said there was nothing left of it when first responders arrived.

“It was just a ball of fire, an explosion, and then the chemical fires afterwards,” he said.

“I think they are still trying to identify who was there, identify the next of kin before we can say anything else. I just know it was incredible. The thing was filled with jet fuel.”

Farmington is in central Connecticut, about 10 miles southwest of the state capital of Hartford.

This story is developing. Refresh for updates.

NewsNation affiliate WTNH and the Associated Press contributed to this report.