US plane crash kills 19

The crash site is about 3 km into the woods

A commuter aircraft has crashed in a heavily wooded area in the US state of Pennsylvania, killing all 19 people on board.

The twin-engine turbo prop plane carrying 17 passengers and two crew members disappeared off radar during its approach to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport at about 1140 local time (1540 GMT) on Sunday.

Tell them we've lost both engines. We've lost both engines

Pilot

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the plane, which was on a commuter flight from Atlantic City, New Jersey, had failed to land in poor weather conditions - probably because of engine failure.

According to George Black of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the aircraft missed its first landing approach and crashed on its second attempt.

Engine failure

The air traffic control tapes and the plane's cockpit voice data recorder appear to suggest that both the plane's engines had failed.

A local television station broadcast an element of the radio transmission between the traffic control and the cockpit.

Rescuers went to the scene of the crash

"Tell them we've lost both engines. We've lost both engines," both the pilot and the co-pilot were heard to say.

The plane crashed at Bear Creek Township, about half a mile from the I-476, the north-east extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Earlier reports said 19 passengers were aboard the plane, but the figure was later adjusted to 17.

About 50 relatives and friends of the victims gathered at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton airport.

Poor visibility

Light rain and fog had been reported in the area at about the time of the crash.

The crash site is about 3 km (2 miles) into the woods.

"It's very remote... Obviously, we have a very unfortunate situation," Mark Carmon, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, said.

Aviation records said the Jetstream BA-31 plane was built in 1988 and was registered to Millennium Jetstream Holdings Inc in New York State, as of 10 February.

According to data from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the last fatal crash of a plane of that type was in Hibbing, Minnesota in December 1993, when 18 people died.