2 dead in US after plane crashes into houses

Two people were confirmed dead and others feared missing after a twin-engine light aircraft crashed into two houses in the US state of Connecticut. The Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B crashed on approach into Tweed New Haven Airport before noon (1600 GMT), the Federal Aviation Administration said. It was on a short flight from Teterboro Airport outside New York City, it said in a statement. The aircraft, making an instrument approach in foul weather, slammed into two clapboard houses in a densely populated section of East Haven, with two children -- one about a year old, the other 13 -- inside one of the homes. "We only know we have two victims. We don't know who. We don't have ages," East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo told a late-afternoon press briefing. In the northwestern US state of Oregon, news media quoting family members identified the pilot as retired Microsoft executive Bill Henningsgaard, traveling around the United States with his 17-year-old son Maxwell to inspect colleges. Officials refused to confirm their identity pending the arrival of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The Turbo Commander 690B, a light twin turboprop business aircraft, seats seven to 10 passengers and crew in a pressurized cabin. East Haven, population 30,000, is 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of New York City, on Long Island Sound.