Crews Recover Son's Gift To Mother In East Haven Plane Wreckage
EAST HAVEN, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A china tea set bought by a 17-year-old boy for his mother has been recovered from the wreckage of the plane that crashed into two houses in Connecticut, killing the teen, his father and two children on the ground.
Deputy police Chief John Mannion told reporters Monday that the set was found in a compartment in the tail section of the plane. He says there was a chip in the tea pot's spout, but the set was otherwise intact.
Susan Henningsgaard told authorities her son, Maxwell, had purchased the set for her last week while on a tour of colleges with his dad, pilot and former Microsoft executive Bill Henningsgaard, 54.
Maxwell and his father were killed Friday after their plane struck two homes in East Haven while approaching Tweed New Haven Airport.
Mannion says the set will be sent to the grieving mother. He called it a "remembrance of a sad day, but a loving son.''
The accident also killed two children -- Sade Brantley, 13, and her 1-year-old sister, Madisyn Mitchell -- after the plane crashed into their home and set it on fire. A funeral for the girls will be held Friday at Trinity Temple Church of God in Christ in New Haven.
Funeral information wasn't available for Maxwell and his father.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said the plane, a Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B, was upside down when it hit the houses at a 60-degree angle, and the pilot didn't declare an emergency before the crash. A preliminary NTSB report is expected within two weeks.
The two heavily damaged homes, which caught fire after the accident, were expected to be torn down this week.
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