Six Killed as Plane Crashes in Massachusetts

A small plane crashed into a sheet metal shop Friday, killing six of the seven people aboard and igniting a fireball that sent workers scrambling for safety, authorities said.

The crash killed a New York City real estate developer and his wife; two interior designers who were renovating the developer’s vacation home; and the pilot and co-pilot. The couple’s 13-year-old daughter was the only survivor.

All seven people who were working in the sheet metal plant escaped, though one worker suffered burns. He was treated at a hospital and released.

Kevin Bailey, a manager at a nearby automotive chemical manufacturing plant, said he heard the plane over the buzz of his plant’s own machines.

The Beech King Air 200, a twin-engine turboprop, left New York’s La Guardia Airport and was scheduled to land at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass. But the pilot asked for permission to land at Fitchburg Municipal Airport instead, said Jim Peters, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

Killed were real estate developer Anthony Fisher, 52; his wife, Anne; pilot Robert Monaco, 49; and co-pilot Eric Jacobson, 30. Also killed were interior designers Michael Campanelli, 36, and Thomas Fox, 50, according to a Fox-Nahem Design spokesman.

Tora Fisher, who survived the crash, was admitted to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.