CLARENCE, N.Y. (Feb. 13) -- A commuter plane "basically dove" into a house while coming in for a landing outside Buffalo, sparking a fiery explosion and killing all 48 people on board and one person on the ground.

Listen: Cockpit Audio

It was the first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the U.S. in 2 1/2 years.

Witnesses heard the twin turboprop aircraft sputtering before it went down in light snow and fog around 10:20 p.m. Thursday. Flames silhouetted the shattered home after Continental Connection Flight 3407 plummeted into it around about five miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

"The whole sky was lit up orange," said Bob Dworak, who lives less than a mile from the crash site. "All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook."

The Buffalo News reported that the widow of a man who perished in the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, was on board the plane.

The 74-seat Q400 Bombardier aircraft, operated by Colgan Air, was flying from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and preparing to land at Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, said there was no indication terrorism was involved.

"All indications are that this was an air-safety event," said spokeswoman Amy Kudwa.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team of crash investigators to Buffalo early Friday.

Hours after the crash, the task of retrieving remains had not yet begun. Clarence emergency control director Dave Bissonette called it "still a hot scene."

"It basically dove right into the top of the house from my perspective," Bissonette said. "I'm no expert on re-creation, but it landed on the house, clearly a direct hit."

Prior to the crash, the voice of a female pilot on Continental Flight 3407 could be heard communicating with air traffic controllers, according to a recording of the Buffalo air traffic control's radio messages shortly before the crash captured by the Web site LiveATC.net. Neither the controller nor the pilot showed any concerns that anything was out of the ordinary as the airplane was asked to fly at 2,300 feet.

A minute later, the controller tried to contact the plane but heard no response. After a pause, he tried to contact the plane again.

Eventually he told an unidentified listener to contact authorities on the ground in the Clarence area.

"You need to find if anything is on the ground," the controller said. "All I can tell you is the aircraft is over the marker (landing beacon), and we're not talking to them now."

After the crash, at least two pilots were heard saying they had been picking up ice on their wings.

"We've been getting ice since 20 miles south of the airport," one says.

While residents of the neighborhood where the plane went down were used to planes rumbling overhead, witnesses said this one sounded louder than usual, sputtered and made some odd noises.

Neighbor David Luce said he and his wife were working on their computers when they heard the plane come in low.