At least 21 feared dead in US plane crash

A commuter plane taking off with 21 people on board crashed into a maintenance hangar at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in North Carolina today.

Police said there did not appear to be any survivors.

“The plane is so destroyed there’s not much to see,” said police spokesman Keith Bridges. “The debris is in such bad shape.”

Nineteen passengers and two crew were on Air Midwest Flight 5481, a Beech 1900 twin-engine turboprop departing for the short flight to Greenville-Spartanburg in South Carolina.

Bridges said two people on the ground were also unaccounted for but could be elsewhere.

The plane crashed as it was taking off in clear, windy weather just before 9 a.m. (1400 Irish time). The last radio contact was clearance for takeoff, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said. .

The plane veered into the hangar. Winds were gusting at the time, police said.

A witness said the plane came down on its back. “It’s just a horrible site,” he said. “It’s just horrible.”

Video from the scene after the crash showed smouldering wreckage and a charred side of the hangar.

Randy Parker, a witness, was getting out of his vehicle at the airport when he saw the plane apparently losing altitude before the crash.