Bad luck seems to plague the Essex County Airport in Fairfield, N.J., a facility in the New York metro area.
This is the airport that John F. Kennedy Jr. took off from on July16, 1999, flying his wife and sister-in-law to Martha’s Vineyard. As we all know, the plane crashed into the Altantic Ocean off the resort island, killing Kennedy and his wo passengers.
And on Sunday, three people died, including a noted doctor who was piloting the aircraft, when a small plane crashed and exploded into flames Sunday while attempting to land at the Essex County Airport.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/small_plane_crashes_near_essex.html
Manhattan doctor Margaret Smith, a 70-year-old licensed pilot, was flying the Cirrus SR22 when it went down in a commercial area right next to the airport, with the plane exploding. Smith was killed, as were her passengers Michael Ferguson, 44, and his wife Theresa.
The plane had left Plattsburgh, N.Y., and flew to New Jersey, where Smith attempted to land at the Essex County Airport. But after descending, Smith suddenly pulled up and aborted the landing. Then the aircraft crashed in an area right by the airport.
According to The Star-Ledger of Newark, Smith was a professor of clinical medicine and a senior associate dean at New York Medical College.
The accident will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.