BEDFORD, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- The pictures and video taken by witnesses around Hanscom Field in Bedford show a gruesome scene, with a charred out plane and emergency crews working frantically.
Witnesses in the quiet Bedford neighborhood describe what they call an unbelievable scene, after a private plane carrying Philadelphia Inquirer owner Lewis Katz and six others crashed.
They saw fire in the sky.
"You could almost feel the heat from 200 yards away," said Robert Iovino. "It was unbelievable."
Smoke filled the air.
"The whole sky was covered in smoke," said Brian Ricci. "You just couldn't see anything."
All seven people on board the Gulfstream IV were killed Saturday night after leaving a fundraiser at the home of famed biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin in Concord.
The National Transportation Safety Board says at least one observer told investigators that the plane never got airborne.
"You could see the cockpit, pretty much, to nothing. Just roasted," Iovino said.
Residents in the area of the Shawsheen River, which runs near the airport, were concerned about fuel runoff in the hours after the crash.
The Massachusetts Port Authority said Sunday that the drinking water is safe and there was never any significant danger to people in the surrounding communities.
"The appropriate environmental authorities have been identified and Clean Harbors is now on the scene to contain any discharge from the aircraft," said Ed Freni of Massport.
While state and federal investigators comb for clues in the wreckage of the fatal crash, those who spent last night watching it all unfold say is not a memory they'll likely ever forget.
"We've heard about all of these tragedies but having been actually an eyewitness last night, it was definitely different and shocking for us," said Michael Marshall.
The ANTS says they'll use video surveillance from the area and from witnesses like the young men FOX 25 spoke to as part of their investigation.
In the meantime the Hanscom airport and all runways will be closed until that investigation is complete.
Cox Media Group
