A cancer patient was among three people killed this morning when a single-engine airplane operated by Angel Flight New England crashed on its way from an airport in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., to Logan International Airport, officials at the nonprofit group said, the AP reported.
The crash at 10:25 a.m. left a male patient, his wife, and the pilot dead. The patient was being taken to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for cancer treatment, said Amy Camerlin, a spokeswoman for Angel Flight, an organization of volunteer pilots that helps needy patients get medical care.
"Sadly, we learned the Angel flight patient and his wife and the pilot were lost," Camerlin said in a phone interview. "They were traveling to Boston for medical treatment. Our deepest sympathy goes out to the patient's and pilot's families."
Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, confirmed that the pilot was flying a Long Island couple to Boston for medical treatment. The plane crashed in the back row of a blacktop parking lot of a Hannaford's supermarket on Robert Drive near Route 106. No one was injured on the ground.
"It was like a fireball," said Darcy Stillman, 35, the manager of the Tanfastic Tanning Salon in the shopping plaza. "We could see there were people inside [the plane], but there was nothing you could do. It was horrible.
"We watched them burn ... we felt helpless," said Stillman as tears dripped down her cheeks. "That poor family, that poor family, that poor family."