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Four dead after jet crashes in Connecticut

Pat Eaton-Robb and Dave CollinsAAP
Four people after jet crashed after takeoff in Connecticut. (Eds: pic of similar model)
Camera IconFour people after jet crashed after takeoff in Connecticut. (Eds: pic of similar model) Credit: AAP

All four people aboard a small luxury jet were killed when it crashed into a building shortly after taking off from a small airport in Connecticut, officials say.

No one in the building was killed.

The Cessna Citation 560X took off just before 10am from Robertson Airport before crashing into a building belonging to Trumpf Inc., a manufacturing company, Farmington police said.

"It appears there was some type of mechanical failure during the take-off sequence that resulted in the crash," police said.

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The plane was headed to Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo, North Carolina, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Two pilots and two passengers aboard the plane were killed, McKenzie said. Their names were not immediately released.

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

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 16 kilometres southwest of the state capital of Hartford.

McKenzie said an intense fire burned for over 20 minutes.

Caleb Vaichaus, who works near the crash site, said he ran to the scene after hearing a loud explosion and seeing billows of black smoke from the Trumpf building.

"I ran straight toward it to see if I could help. I got as close as I possibly could and the flames were extremely hot and the fire was just getting bigger," he told local media.

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