Mock plane crash showing 'badly timed'

American TV network NBC has apologised over a sketch at the Emmy Awards which showed a mock plane crash just hours after a commuter jet accident in Kentucky killed 49 people.

The annual ceremony on Sunday night, which was broadcast live, opened with a pre-recorded spoof of various US shows, including air-crash drama Lost.

NBC called the timing “unfortunate“.

Host Conan O’Brien was shown on board a plane being asked by a stewardess if he was nervous about the job, and answering: “Nervous? What could possibly go wrong?”

At that point the plane began to shake uncontrollably and pitch violently, before the sequence cut to a bedraggled O’Brien wading out of the sea on an island resembling the one in Lost.

Earlier in the day a jetliner taking off in Lexington, Kentucky, crashed into a field and burst into flames, killing all but one of his 50 passengers and crew.

Criticism of the sketch appeared on websites immediately, and it was condemned by the general manager of NBC’s Lexington affiliate, WLEX.

NBC said in a statement yesterday: “In no way would we ever want to make light of this terrible tragedy.

“The filmed opening during the Emmy telecast was meant to spoof some of television’s most well-known scenes.

“The timing was unfortunate, and we regret any unintentional pain it may have caused.”

The network added: “Our hearts and prayers go out to the many families who lost loved ones in the plane crash in Kentucky on Sunday, and to the entire community that has suffered this terrible loss.”

WLEX’s general manager, Tim Gilbert, told the Lexington Herald-Leader: “It was a live telecast. We were completely helpless.

“By the time we began to react, it was over. At the station, we were as horrified as they were at home.”

A columnist on the Los Angeles Times called the sketch “cringe-inducing” and “of questionable taste“.