Jet skids off runway and crashes into warehouse

A CORPORATE jet hurtled off the end of a runway yesterday while attempting to take off from Teterboro Airport, speeding across a highway and slamming into a warehouse.

About 15 people were injured, one critically, but nobody was killed, officials said.

The injured included two people in cars along the highway, officials said. Eleven people were on the plane; the most seriously injured was the pilot, who suffered a broken leg, said officials, who did not disclose the identities of the passengers or crew.

“I think everybody at this point is extremely lucky and fortunate,” said acting Governor Richard J Codey.

One witness said a pilot crawled out of the wreckage and told him the crew lost control of the plane. It was headed for Midway Airport in Chicago when the accident happened around 7:20am, said Greg Martin, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington.

Authorities initially said there were 14 people on the plane but later said there were 11.

One witness said the plane never made it off the ground after “sliding and skidding” down the runway.

Witness Robert Sosa told WNBC-TV he saw the plane crash into the building.

“Two guys came off with their hands cut. The pilot said he dragged himself out. He literally crawled out like a baby, and all the other people just walked out normal. He said as they tried to airborne ... they just lost control and they couldn’t airborne the plane. They went straight through, 100 miles per hour,” he said.

Mr Martin said communication between the air traffic control and the aircraft was routine and the aircraft had been cleared for take-off.

The weather was clear and the wind was calm.

Mr Martin identified the aircraft as a twin-engine Canadair Challenger 600, “a type of small regional business/charter jet” that can carry 12 to 15 passengers.