Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter

_{AT LEAST one Jamaican family is now in mourning following Thursday night's deadly plane crash in New York.}

The crash claimed the lives of 49 people aboard a Continental aeroplane and one person on the ground after it crashed into a house near Buffalo, New York, and burst into flames.

Among the victims were Jamaicans Danny Massop (42), Dawn Massop (43), their 13-year-old son Shawn and Dawn's sister, Ferris Reid.

Norris Coke, who is married to one of Dawn's sisters, told THE STAR yesterday that the family was shaken by the tragedy.

"It is pretty rough, but we are coming to grips with it. It is a big loss to the family," Coke said.

The Massops lived in New Jersey and were on their way to vacation with another family member in Canada. Coke recalls that they were very loving.

"When you are around them, you are comfortable and whenever you are around them it is lovely. If you are going to the (United) States, that is where you go. You have to visit Danny and Cutie (Dawn)," Coke said.

last call

Dawn, who, along with Danny, Shawn and Ferris, visited Jamaica in December, made her last telephone call to Jamaica on Thursday.

"She called my wife and told her that she was heading to Canada. We saw the news item, but never for one moment did we ever think they were involved," Coke said.

The Jamaican family hails from Golden Spring, St Andrew.

Reports are that the Q400 Bombardier turboprop aircraft crashed into the town of Clarence Center, New York, about five minutes before it was due to land at Buffalo airport.

The Q400, which is the latest version of the Dash 8 series of planes, is designed to be flown in adverse weather conditions, such as light snow and fog.

The same model planes were ditched by Scandinavian Airlines after two non-fatal crash landings within days in September 2007.

Thursday's crash was the first fatal incident involving this generation of the Dash 8.

In 2007, the Canadian manufacturer advised airlines using the model to temporarily take them out of service to inspect their landing gear after the Scandinavian airline SAS reported landing gear failures.

The cause of the crash is unknown but investigators hope to recover clues from the plane's black box.